Meeting the Heartbroken
by mereditholiver
Summary: Takes place right before the peace conference. Jason is chosen, leaving Meredith heartbroken. However, Rocky's there. Can he pick up the pieces of her heart?
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but this particular story bunny and the character of Meredith. If it appears on TV, it wasn't mine. I'm just playing with them in my little AU.**

**PREMISE: Takes place during the peace conference selection. Jason is dating Tommy's twin, Meredith. He is chosen for the Peace Conference and leaves a heartbroken Meredith, but Rocky's there. Will he pick up the pieces and build a life for the two of them?**

Speculation abounded at Angel Grove High regarding who would be chosen for the Peace Conference in Geneva. Several of Meredith's friends were in the running to attend, including Meredith and her boyfriend Jason Scott.

Meredith was conflicted about being on the list for consideration. She would love to do some good in the world, but was really anxious about possibly leaving her brother and her boyfriend of the past two years. She didn't know what would hurt her more, leaving Tommy or Jason or having them leave her behind.

Meredith took her books out of her locker and headed toward the Youth Center.

She arrived at the Youth Center to find her best friend Kimberly already there, sitting with Billy and Meredith's boyfriend, Jason.

Jason stood up when he saw Meredith approach the table and gave up his seat. He placed a quick kiss on her cheek before grabbing a chair to sit next to her.

They were all in deep conversation when Meredith noticed two of her fellow cheerleaders enter the Center. Meredith needed to discuss some things with them, so she excused herself and headed over to talk to them.

Tommy entered the Center with Adam Park and Rocky DeSantos. Tommy was going to formally introduce the gang to them, but noticed that Meredith was off with some of her other friends.

Rocky glanced around the Center and noticed a girl standing with a group of cheerleaders. She was wearing a purple sweater, white skirt and brown boots. She had her hair in a twist, but a piece of hair kept slipping from the clasp. As she spoke, she pushed the stray strand behind her ear. Rocky didn't know why, but this move drove him crazy. Adam, who'd been trying to talk to him for several minutes, hit him in the arm, bringing Rocky back to reality.

"Dude, what's up," Adam asked.

"That girl in the purple sweater. She's an absolute babe. She's beautiful and just, wow," he said.

Tommy overheard this exchange because the mentioning of the girl in the purple sweater could only mean his twin sister. When he heard Rocky call her a babe, he got protective.

"That BABE happens to be my twin sister, Meredith. She's dating Jason, so get all that out of your head," he said, using his best leader/big brother voice.

"I didn't mean it was a bad thing. I mean she's so sweet and innocent looking that she's like a baby," Rocky just looked at Rocky, but decided that as long as Jason was around, Meredith was safe.

"Tommy, I would never upset your sister or Jason. I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry," he said.

"No problem, man. I actually hear much dumber stuff from people who KNOW I'm Meri's brother. At least I know she'll be protected," Tommy said.

Rocky and Adam followed Tommy to the table and were introduced to the people sitting there.

Meredith finished her conversation with her other friends and returned to the table with Jason. Tommy introduced her to Rocky and Adam.

"Oh, you're the new guy in my speech and drama class," she said.

"Right. I didn't think you'd notice," Rocky said.

"It's the most exciting thing to happen in that class this year," she said.

"If my arriving to your class is the most exciting thing to have happen, I'm sorry," Rocky said. This caused the gang to laugh and begin talking about their classes.

***That's the start. What do you think?***-mereditholiver


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Again, I own nothing but this plot bunny and the character of Meredith. Enjoy!

Meredith and Tommy noticed the time and realized they needed to head home for dinner. Kimberly and Jason elected to leave with them, leaving the rest at the Youth Center.

Tommy and Kimberly walked ahead of Jason and Meredith, apparently desperate for some privacy.

"Gee, those two," Meredith said.

"I know. You think they NEVER spend any time together," Jason said.

He reached out and grabbed Meredith's hand. She smiled up at him.

"We really need to go out to the movies or something without Kim and Tommy tagging along," Jason said."Tell me about it. I get so sick of Tommy thinking he has to chaperone all the time. Geez! I don't follow him around all the time," Meredith said.

The couple walked in silence for a while before realizing they were outside the Oliver house.

Jason pulled Meredith into an embrace. He looked into her green eyes and kissed her. Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck and responded in kind. When Jason pulled away, he placed his forehead against hers.

"I love you, you know that, right," he asked her.

"I love you, too. I know you love me," she said.

Giving him a quick hug, she rushed inside before her father or brother came out of the house to usher her inside.

Jason waited until Meredith had closed the door and continued his walk toward his house. He was thinking about this Peace Conference and, unbeknownst to everyone, including Meredith, he had been chosen as one of the student ambassadors. If he accepted the position, he'd be heading off to Switzerland. He was torn. Part of him wanted to stay in Angel Grove with his friends and, particularly, Meredith, but part of him knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime. He didn't know what he was going to do, but he knew he would have to discuss it with his best friend BEFORE he mentioned anything to Meredith. He wasn't quite sure how she would take it.

Meredith walked into her room and found her brother sitting on her bed.

"Hey, bro, must be important if you beat me home and are waiting in my room," she said, setting her texts on her desk and sitting down next to him.

"We got letters from the Peace Conference committee today," he said.

"Wow! What do they say," she asked, excited despite the implications of the decision.

"I don't know. I wanted to wait for you. Kimberly rushed home when she saw I had mine. She just called and said she wasn't chosen. She's going to find out if anyone in our group was selected," he said. He handed her the envelope with her name on it and he showed her his identical envelope.

Meredith turned hers over and opened the flap.

'_**Dear Miss Oliver,**_

_**We have reviewed your qualifications for the Peace Conference and, while impressive, are not what we are looking for in a student ambassador. We will, however, place you on our alternate list.**_

_**Thank you for your interest and we will contact you, should we need an alternate for the conference.**_

_**Continue your good work,Glenda Carter, Peace Conference Selection Committee Chairperson.'**_

"Well, I'm not going," Meredith said, kind of bummed but kind of relieved.

"I'm not going either," Tommy said. He'd read his letter while Meredith read hers and wasn't surprised that he wasn't selected, but Meredith seemed a shoo-in.

"Well, at least we're not leaving each other behind," Meredith said to her brother.

Just then, the phone rang. Tommy, sitting closest to Meredith's extension, picked it up.

***What does the phone call reveal? Hope you're enjoying this story.***-mereditholiver


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, sadly, but this plot bunny and the character of Meredith.

"Hello," he said.

"Tommy, I have some news. I just talked to Trini and Zack," Kimberly said.

"And," he said. Meredith was perched on the edge of the bed, close enough to hear what was being said.

"They're going," she said. Tommy and Meredith, knowing Kim as well as they did, knew she was partially happy and upset at the same time. She and Trini had grown up together and Zack had been in their group since second grade. When Meredith arrived at Angel Grove High, she had been immediately accepted by Kimberly and her friends. Tommy arrived a short time later, having wanted to finish his semester out in Dallas.

"Have you heard from Billy or Jason," Tommy asked.

"Billy didn't apply. He said he couldn't leave all his family and friends and was afraid they might not understand what he was talking about. I thought Meri might have heard from Jase. He's not answering his phone," Kim said.

"No, Mer's been home for a few minutes and Jason never said anything to her. Maybe I'll try calling him," Tommy said.

"OK, call me if you hear from him. I'll talk to you later. I love you," Kim said."Love you, too," Tommy said.

"Trini and Zack are going? Wow, that's amazing. I wonder who the third person is and if we know them," Meredith said.

Tommy shook his head, but had a feeling he knew who the third person was. "Don't know, Meri. We should try Jason," Tommy said.

Meredith picked up the phone and called Jason's house.

"Hi, Mrs. Scott, sorry to call so late, but I needed to talk to Jason," Meredith said."No problem dear, but Jason's not here at the moment. He said he needed to go for a walk, but I'll tell him you called. He should be back soon," she said."OK, thanks," Meredith said, before hanging up. "His mom said he went out. I don't know where he is. He must have dropped me off and then went home and told his parents he was leaving for some reason."

"Oh, he probably heard about Zack and Trini and needed to take a walk. Why don't I head over to the park? Mom has those movies she wants to return and I can do it now instead of before school. You stay here and see if he calls," Tommy suggested. Meredith reluctantly agreed to Tommy's terms and settled in at her desk to do her homework.

Tommy headed downstairs and greeted his mom in the kitchen. "I've got to meet Jason, so I thought I'd take those movies back since I might forget in the morning," Tommy said.

"OK, but don't be out too late. It is a school night," his mom reminded him.

"I know, mom," he said, kissing his mom on the cheek and heading out the back door. He hopped in his Jeep and headed to the video store. He dropped off the movies in the return slot and then, locking his car, he headed across the street toward the park. After walking up the path toward the beach, he spotted Jason, sitting on a rock near the dock.

"Hey bro. I've been trying to call you," he said.

Jason turned and looked at him and Tommy knew he had been right.

"You got picked for the conference," Tommy said. Jason just nodded his head. He was afraid if he spoke he might start crying and he wasn't going to do that.

"What are you going to do," Tommy asked, sitting next to him and looking out over the water.

Jason shook his head. He still didn't trust himself enough to speak.

"I understand. I don't know how I'd feel if Meredith or Kimberly were chosen and I wasn't. I can't imagine what you're feeling right now, but you can talk to me about it. I know you've got to be feeling really bummed about what it will do to Meredith if you decide to leave," Tommy said.

Jason took a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt her," he said in a near whisper.

"I know. But, dude, if you give up this opportunity just so you don't hurt Meredith, she's going to hate you for it. If I know one thing about my sister, she won't want anyone to give up their dreams for her. She loves you too much to allow you to refuse if this is something that you really want to do," Tommy said.

"I know. I feel really guilty for wanting to do it, but at the same time I understand how Meredith is going to feel because I can't see how we can still be together during this. I'll be halfway across the world and she'll be here. I can't force her to be with me and not physically 'be' with her, you know what I mean," Jason said.

"I get it man, I do. You need to tell Meredith that. Let her decide if that's what she wants. No matter what, I know my sister loves you. She'll always love you. Be honest with her," Tommy said.

"Is it too late to talk to her tonight," Jason asked.

"Probably. Why don't you talk to her tomorrow. You two usually go out on a date Friday nights. Should be a perfect time for you two to talk," Tommy said.

"Ok. Don't tell her you found me. I don't want her to know that we talked. She might get upset about that," Jason said.

Tommy nodded and he and Jason stood and shook hands and did the one-armed man hug.

Tommy headed back out of the park toward his Jeep, the whole time wondering how he was going to keep this from Meredith. He knew it was wrong, but he wasn't looking forward to the pain Meredith was going to go through, especially when she found out that not only was Jason going, but he wouldn't be there for her birthday. Well, it was Tommy's birthday, too, but he wouldn't be nearly as disappointed at the absence of Jason as his sister would be.

***Hope things are going like you want them. What will Jason tell Meredith?***-mereditholiver


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I only own Meredith and this plot bunny. Nothing else belongs to me.

Tommy arrived home and found his parents were already asleep. Tommy had never been late on a school night, so his parent's trusted him. He was grateful because he didn't want to explain to his parents why he was upset. He only hoped that Meredith was asleep and he could slip into his room and go to sleep himself. This entire day had drained him.

He quietly climbed the stairs and saw the light was off in Meredith's room, signaling that she had gone to sleep. Tommy headed into his room and quietly shut the door. He slipped off his clothes and crawled into bed in just his boxer shorts. He reached over to set his alarm when he noticed a note from Meredith. He smiled because sometimes Meredith just wrote a note to say goodnight when they missed each other. He supposed it was a twin thing, but he did the same thing when he went to sleep before she came home.

'_**Bro, **_

_**I'm going to head into school early in the morning and see if I can talk to Jason. I'll catch you in the morning. Left the answers for the math worksheet on your desk. Make sure you finish it BEFORE breakfast or mom and dad might get mad. **_

_**Love,**_

_**Sis'**_

He smiled as he finished the note and stuck it in the drawer by his bed. Turning off his lamp and setting his alarm, he rolled over and went to sleep.

Meredith awoke the next morning feeling surprisingly well rested. She was getting ready to go for her morning jog, when she heard Tommy coming down the kitchen stairs.

"Just because you wanted to leave early, doesn't mean we're not jogging together," Tommy said.

Meredith smiled at her brother. This was one of the reason's she thought her brother was the greatest person in the world.

Grabbing an extra bottle of water out of the fridge, Meredith tossed it to Tommy and they headed out the door.

They completed their usual five-mile run in no time and arrived back at their house just as their parents were getting up for the day. They greeted their parents and headed upstairs to get ready for school.

"Those two still do everything together," Jane Oliver mentioned to her husband, James.

"Remember when we thought they would grow out of it. It's a good thing they have each other," he said, taking a sip of his coffee and opening the paper.

***Will Meredith get answers?*** -mereditholiver


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot bunny and Meredith, so don't sue.

Meredith stood in front of her closet in her purple bathrobe, trying to decide what to wear. Normally she didn't have a problem, but today, she just couldn't make up her mind.

She finally settled on her Gap button-fly jeans, sandles and a purple top. She pulled her hair up with a clip without bothering to style it. She just put some gel in it and allowed it to curl on it's own. She sometimes hated the amount of time she put into it to make it straight and was starting to let the natural wave come out more. How her brother handled it, she'd never know. His hair was always better than hers and she knew it was just as unmanageable as hers was in the mornings.

She grabbed her stuff off her desk and headed out her bedroom door. She actually ran into Tommy coming out of his room. He was dressed in blue jeans, a white tank under his over shirt. IT was mostly white with small black strips going through it, giving him a bit of color to his mostly white wardrobe. He was wearing his yellow hiking boots and had already pulled his hair back into a pony tail. Meredith shook her head. How Tommy could pull it off, she'd never know.

They both headed downstairs toward the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast and chat with their folks before heading to school. Meredith hoped she'd get to see Jason after his workout that he, Zack and Billy usually did in the mornings before school. Tommy joined them sometimes, but he liked running and practicing katas in the morning with Meredith and sparring with the guys after school.

Meredith grabbed the orange juice out of the fridge while Tommy got the glasses. She poured two glasses while Tommy grabbed two fruit breakfast bars out of the cupboard. He handed Meredith an apple cinnamon while he had strawberry.

Their parents watched the two, again in amazement. They had their own way of communicating that still stumped their parents.

Meredith noticed the bewildered looks on her parent's faces and asked, "What?"

"You and Tommy never say a word during breakfast to each other, yet ALWAYS get exactly what the other wants that morning. You do that on the weekends when we cook big breakfasts. Neither one says a word, but you get exactly what you want," her mom said.

She and Tommy shrugged at each other. "Don't know how to explain it, mom. We just always know. I guess we kind of sense what the other wants and just go with it. Guess it's that twin connection that you were warned about," Tommy said, finishing off his bar in two bites. Meredith finished her juice and placed her and Tommy's glasses in the sink.

"Remember, we're heading to your dad's reunion this weekend. We're leaving around noon, so we won't see you guys until Monday evening, since it's a holiday weekend," James said.

Meredith had forgotten that her parent's were going out of town this weekend. She'd been so busy with what was happening with the Peace Conference that it slipped her mind.

"Right. And we know the rules. NO PARTIES," she said.

"You can have the group over, but we don't want anyone we don't know staying. You can have a group sleepover, if EVERYONE stays. If not than no one can. Understood," Jane said.

Tommy shook his head. His parents allowed group sleepovers when they were all at home and they knew the rules, he was just amazed at what his parents might be implying.

"Don't worry, mom and dad. We won't do anything we wouldn't do if you guys were home. Besides, I think we're supposed to go to a cook out at Billy's Saturday," Meredith said, knowing exactly what her brother was thinking.

"OK. We'll call when we have a number for the cabin," their mom said."You guys have fun. We'll be fine," Tommy said.

The twins kissed and hugged their parents bye, but not before getting a reminder about where the extra cash was kept for an emergency and their dad saying he'd put money in the envelope so they could order pizza for everyone and they could also eat out while they were away.

Once they said goodbye to their parents, Meredith and Tommy headed out the door.

"You want to ride together today," Meredith asked.

"No, I'll drive. Kimberly's brother is taking her car to the shop today, so she'll probably need a ride if it isn't fixed in time and I don't want you to have to wait or walk if Kim's practices run long," he said.

"Sounds fair. Meet you at the Youth Center," she said.

Tommy nodded and got into his Jeep. He started up and headed out of the driveway toward the Youth Center.

Meredith started her vehicle. Like Tommy, she had a Jeep as well. Tommy's was white and Meredith had to settle for a forest green, because asking her parents to get it painted purple would have taken a lot of explaining, so she just bought purple seat covers and floor mats.

***How will the meeting go?***-mereditholiver


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot bunny and Meredith.

The twins arrived at the Youth Center and Meredith noticed Jason's red truck was already in the parking lot. She got out of her Jeep and headed into the Center, Tommy close on her heels.

She entered the Youth Center and immediately saw Zack and Jason sparring in the center of the mats. Billy sat on the bench besides the mats, wiping his face with a towel. He saw Meredith enter and immediately jumped up to greet her."Meredith, good morning. Did you come to partake in this cardiovascular activity," Billy asked in Billy-speak.

"No, Tommy and I ran this morning and did some katas. I'm not sparring this morning. I actually need to talk to Jason and was hoping to catch him this morning," she said.

Tommy, standing behind Meredith, watched Jason and Zack. He knew Jason knew Meredith had arrived, even if his back was turned. Meredith and Jason were like he and Kim, they always knew when the other was around.

Jason and Zack ended their sparring session and faced Meredith and Tommy.

"Jase, I called you last night. Where were you," she asked him.

He took a drink from his water bottle. "I went for a walk. I needed to think some things over," he said. "Listen, can I grab a shower and then we talk. We really need to talk about some things," he nodded her head. Jason dropped a quick kiss on her cheek and headed toward the locker room. Meredith went to one of the tables in the quiet Youth Center and sat down to wait for Jason.

Ernie, owner of the Center, had given keys to everyone in their group since they help him out on occasion and they liked to practice when no one was around. Zack and Billy headed off to shower, also, once again leaving Meredith and her brother.

"I don't know, Meri," Tommy said."How did you know I was going to ask that? Wait. Nevermind. I forget sometimes," she said.

Tommy and Meredith could sometimes tell what the other was thinking when one of them was really happy or really sad. They blamed it on the twin connection, but it had helped out more than once on the battlefield, so they just went with it.

Tommy glanced at the clock. "I'm meeting Kimberly out front in a few. Ken's going to drop her off, so I'm going to wait for her outside, you cool with that," he asked.

Meredith nodded her head. Tommy placed a kiss on the top of his sister's head and went out to wait for Kimberly.

Jason emerged from the locker room, dressed in blue jeans and a red t-shirt.

"What do you say we walk around the park before school? I could use the fresh air," he again nodded and stood up from her chair. Jason took her hand and they headed out the door. He stopped at his truck and put his bag in the back. He pocketed his keys and, taking Meredith's hand, headed toward the playground across from the Youth Center. He led Meredith to the swings and soon they were swinging gently in the silence of the morning.

"Jase, I know," she said.

"Know what," he said, quickly.

"You got picked for the conference, didn't you," she said. She had been thinking about it all night and, other than Jason cheating on her, it made the most sense.

He looked down at his feet. "Yeah. I wasn't sure how I was going to tell you," he said.

"What are you going to do," she asked, but, again she felt she knew the answer.

"I want to go. But if you tell me to stay, I will," he said, looking at her.

"I can't tell you that. You were chosen to do this for a reason. As much as I'm going to hate that we're apart, I can't let you give up this opportunity. I want you to go to the conference," she said, surprised that the words actually came out of her mouth.

She got up off the swing and Jason followed her. "Mer, you know that I would never hold you being with me if I'm in Switzerland," he said.

Meredith knew he would say that. "I know. When do you leave," she asked him."Monday. Thought we could spend the weekend together and then Trini, Zack and I are supposed to fly out that night," he said.

"Well, we should have a great weekend together since it will be our last one," she said, smiling.

Jason could see the glistening of the unshed tears in her eyes. He knew she was fighting her broken heart and it killed him that he was here to see it.

He pulled her into a hug and held her as his shirt became damp from her tears. He was crying, too. He loved Meredith with his entire being and the thought of not having her broke his heart and caused such an ache, that he couldn't fathom he'd ever survive it.

Meredith pulled away and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"We should get going. I guess the cook out at Billy's will be a going-away party for the three of you," she said.

"Yeah," he said.

He grabbed her hand and they headed back to their vehicles.

Meredith sat in her car and looked at Jason as he drove toward the high school. She looked at herself in her mirror and knew no amount of make up was going to cover up the tracks of tears on her cheeks. She took a deep breath and headed toward the high school.

***Oh, no, say it ain't so. Now what's going to happen?***-mereditholiver


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except the character of Meredith and this plot bunny.

The weekend went by much too quickly for Meredith. Following a good-bye party at Billy's, Meredith and Jason had gone back to her house and just talked on the couch. When the time came for Jason to head home and finish packing, Meredith was beside herself. She had loved this guy for two years. She couldn't just turn those feelings off like that. He promised he'd be by with his parents to take her to the airport with them. She nodded and kissed him goodbye.

She leaned back against the door and willed herself not to start crying. Tommy came in the kitchen door and saw his sister trying to hold it together.

"Mer, you're going to be OK," he said, taking his sister in his arms.

"I know. I just don't know how I'm going to handle this ache. I imagine it will only get worse the longer he's gone," she said.

"I don't know, but we can do all kinds of stuff together, so you don't have anything to worry about Jase being gone," he said.

Meredith sniffled and nodded. She headed upstairs to her room to grab a nap before Jason was to leave on the plane.

Tommy watched his sister slowly plod up the stairs. He knew she was hurting, he just didn't know how badly until just then. He knew Meredith was searching for a purpose beyond being Jason's girlfriend. She had been a part of Jason's life as either a ranger or as his girlfriend. A small part of Tommy was worried about how she would be as a ranger with Jason no longer on the team. He didn't tell Meredith, but Trini, Zack and Jason had selected their replacements and were supposed to hand over their power coins right before they left. Tommy would be summoned when the time came and he would take Meredith with him.

Meredith shut the door to her room and shut the door that connected her room to Tommy's. She only did it when she needed privacy, which was usually when she was changing, but she also locked it. This was an unspoken sign to her brother not to bother her. Of course, he could always teleport his way in if he felt he needed. One drawback to having your brother being the leader of the power rangers, he could pretty much order everyone around.

Meredith sat on her bed. She placed her morpher on the table and sat back against the headboard. She thought back to the day she became a power ranger.

_Meredith arrived at Angel Grove High ready to attend her first day of high school in a new city, but also the first time at a new school without her twin brother. Tommy was behind in Dallas competing in a karate tournament and was living with their aunt and uncle. He would arrive in a few weeks. This gave Meredith the opportunity to find her way without being one of the 'Oliver Twins.'_

_She quickly found her locker and noticed two guys talking near her locker. One was an African-American boy dressed in mostly black. He was demonstrating some moves to a very attractive guy wearing jeans and a red tank top. Meredith, distracted by the commotion, dropped her books, making a loud slapping sound on the ground. Mortified, she started picking up her books only to look up and be met with the boy in red's deep brown eyes. _

"_Thanks," she croaked out._

"_No problem. First day," he asked as he helped her pick up her books._

"_Yeah. My dad just got a job here, so here I am," she said, rising up._

_The boy in red held out his free hand, "Jason Scott," he said. Meredith accepted the outstretched hand and shook it. "Meredith Oliver," she said. Jason held Meredith's hand a bit longer than necessary, but Meredith wasn't complaining. Letting go, he asked her which locker was hers. She pointed to the one in front of her and Jason waited while she opened the locker. He helped her put her books inside and then asked what class she had first period._

_Glancing at her schedule, she said, "History with Mrs. Appleby."_

"_That's the same class I have. Come on, I'll walk you there and introduce you to two of my friends," Jason said._

_Meredith nodded, grateful she'd found someone to help her this morning._

_Jason approached a group of kids, one of them was the guy he had been talking with when she dropped her books._

"_Zack, Billy, Trini, this is Meredith. She's new to the school. She's got History with Kim and I first period. Just thought I'd introduce her before we head to class. Want to meet at the Juice Bar at lunch," she said._

_The three nodded in agreement. Meredith was a bit confused. Seeing her confusion, Billy answered her unspoken question._

"_Due to the overabundance of work on the teachers, this week is only half-days to allow them ample time to create their necessary assignments and paperwork," Billy said._

_Meredith nodded. "Half-days for teachers to get their work done. Wish we had weeks like this in Dallas," she said, smiling._

_The bell rang and Jason led her down the hall to the class with Zack following behind. At the entrance they were greeted by a girl dressed in pink who Meredith assumed to be Kimberly._

"_Hey, Kim. This is Meredith. She's new here and has History with us this period," Jason said._

"_Hi, Meredith. Nice to meet you," she said. Meredith nodded in agreement._

_The four entered the room and took seats. Jason and Kimberly made sure to sit next to Meredith, with Zack sitting behind her._

_Classes for the day passed quickly. Meredith had classes with everyone she had met during the day and, to her surprise, Jason was waiting for her after her last class, that she shared with Trini and Kimberly._

"_Thought I'd walk you to the Juice Bar," he said. The rest of the gang was already well ahead of them, so they took their time getting to their lockers and heading out into the beautiful California sunshine._

*****Is this the beginning of a beautiful friendship?***-mereditholiver**


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except this plot bunny and Meredith.

"_So, Meredith Oliver, want to tell me a bit about yourself," Jason asked as they walked down the path to the park. _

"_Well, I am from Texas originally. My dad is retired army and has been working as a police officer for the last six years. He'd been working with the Dallas PD for the last six years and was offered the job as Police Chief here, so we moved again. I have a twin brother, who should be arriving in a few weeks. He's a martial artist and wanted to compete in a karate tournament and finish his semester out in Dallas. I've never been anywhere new without him before, so this is kind of new for me. I do a bit of karate with my brother and I was a cheerleader and played soccer back in Dallas. That's pretty much it," she said._

"_You like karate? Wow, that's too cool. I'm a martial artist myself. Maybe we can work out together," he said._

"_Sure, but I'm no where near the level of you or my brother," she said._

"_That's ok. It'll still be fun," he said._

That day had been great right up until they were all teleported to the Command Center and met Zordon and were given the choice of being Power Rangers or not. Meredith had been confused that day, but after initially accepting the power she was teleported back to have a private talk with Zordon, which made her feel better about the whole thing.

"_MEREDITH. I KNOW YOU ARE CONFUSED AND HAVE MANY QUESTIONS. I WILL TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT THE PURPLE STEGOSAURUS POWER THAT MIGHT HELP YOU UNDERSTAND. THE PURPLE POWER IS A VERY UNIQUE POWER. IT MUST BE HELD BY SOMEONE WHO POSSESSES NOT ONLY ALL OF THE SAME ATTRIBUTES OF THE RANGERS, BUT MUST ALSO BE A SIBLING. THE PROPHECY STATES THAT THE SIBLINGS WILL BOTH BE RANGERS ON THE SAME TEAM. I DO NOT KNOW WHEN THIS WILL HAPPEN, BUT YOUR BROTHER WILL ONE DAY JOIN OUR TEAM AFTER HE HAS PROVEN HIMSELF WORTHY. YOU MUST TELL NO ONE WHAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED. IT WILL BE REVEALED TO THEM AT A LATER TIME AFTER THE FULLFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY. THE PURPLE POWER CANNOT BE GIVEN TO SOMEONE, IT MUST CHOOSE IT'S POSSESSOR. YOU ARE THE PERFECT PERSON FOR THIS POWER, MEREDITH. DO NOT DOUBT YOURSELF."_

"_Thanks, Zordon. I think I understand," she said._

"_THEN RETURN TO YOUR FRIENDS. YOU HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS WITH YOUR NEW TEAM."_

_With that, Meredith teleported back to the park where she met the other rangers._

"_Mer, you going to stay," Jason asked. He knew she was conflicted about what she was being asked to do and wasn't sure she was going to stay with the group._

"_Yeah. Zordon explained a lot to me and I feel a lot better about it. I'm just glad that I have friends that I can talk to about it," she said._

_Billy noticed the time and everyone broke off into their groups to head home. Meredith's dad was working late, her mom was in Dallas waiting for Tommy's competition to finish. Meredith was pretty much on her own for the evening, so she wasn't really worried about getting home at a specific time. Jason's parents were apparently out of town, so he was on his own as well._

"_Listen, why don't I walk you home," Jason offered._

"_I'd love that. I was going to order pizza tonight since dad's going to be working late, so why don't you join me and we can maybe watch a movie," she suggested, hoping she was being to persumptious. She didn't know if Jason was involved with anyone, but Kim and Trini didn't act like he was involved with them, so Meredith was taking a chance._

"_I would love to. And before you ask, I don't have a girlfriend," he said._

_Meredith blushed and Jason smiled. He thought she was something. She had a beautiful smile that lit up her eyes and green eyes that he could stare at for hours. He'd only known her a day, but it felt like longer._

_They started walking toward Meredith's house. Jason reached out and grabbed Meredith's hand. Meredith, shocked at the gesture looked at their joined hands and then back up at Jason and smiled. She made no move to remove her hand, so the two walked toward her house making small talk._

_They arrived at her house and Meredith unlocked the door. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to call my dad and then we can order pizza," she said._

_Jason went into the living room and sat down on the comfortable sofa. He noticed pictures around the room and got up and looked at them._

_Meredith called her dad's office. "Hey dad. I'm home. Just wanted to you to know that I asked a classmate to come over and eat pizza with me. Don't worry. I know. You don't know when you'll be home. This Power Ranger thing has you kind of busy. Well, I'll be here and I'll see you in the morning if I'm asleep when you get up. I haven't heard from mom or Tommy, but I'm sure they'll call this evening. Love you dad," she said before hanging up the phone._

_Meredith came into the living room and noticed Jason admiring the pictures on the mantle. He was looking at a picture of herself and Tommy in their karate gi after a competition. Jason had to admit to himself that he was impressed with Meredith and her brother, who he had yet to meet._

_Meredith and Jason ordered pizza, pepperoni. Meredith grinned as she took her first bite._

_Jason looked over at her. "What's so funny," he asked._

"_I NEVER get to have an entire pepperoni pizza. Tommy always orders half pepperoni for me because he doesn't like just pepperoni. It's kind of nice to enjoy something without him," she said. "But, don't get me wrong. I love my brother to death. I miss him like crazy," she added._

_Jason looked at Meredith. "Well, I can't wait to meet him," he said._

_They finished off their pizza and started watching a movie. Two and a half hours later, Meredith was asleep on Jason's shoulder, his arms wrapped around her. He gently nudged her and she started to stir. She was surprised that she had fallen asleep and bit embarrassed._

"_Oh, Jason, I'm sorry. I must have been more tired from my move and the day than I thought," she said._

"_Hey, I'm not complaining. I might have fallen asleep if I wasn't afraid of your dad coming in and catching us," he said, with a smile._

"_Maybe we should do this again. And I promise I won't fall asleep," she said._

_Jason smiled at her. He tilted his head toward her and Meredith tilted toward him. Their lips met in a kiss that had Meredith's stomach doing flipflops. When the kiss ended neither could say anything._

_Jason spoke after a minute of silence, "Wow."_

"_Yeah, wow," Meredith said._

"_I'd better go. How about I pick you up for school tomorrow," he asked._

"_That would be great. I'll see you in the morning," Meredith replied._

_Jason wrapped his arms around her waist and they shared another kiss. He said bye and closed the door behind him. Meredith locked the door and leaned against it._

_Just as she was about to go to bed, the phone rang. _

_She picked up the extension in the kitchen and was greeted with her brother's voice._

_Without giving too many details, Meredith explained how she met her new friends and couldn't wait for him to come to California and meet them. After fifteen minutes they finished their conversation and Meredith headed upstairs to her room for some sleep. She placed her morpher beside her on the table and fell quickly asleep._

******Oh,my what is happening with our new ranger 'couple?****-mereditholiver**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER: Despite my wishing on falling stars and on my birthday candles, I do not own anything except for Meredith and this plot bunny. So don't sue me and don't hate!**

Meredith remembered everything they had fought as rangers. She recalled the day she discovered that Tommy was the evil green ranger. Meredith had been devastated by the news especially since her brother had been mean and cold toward her just after his transformation. Jason eventually brought him over to the side of good and, true to Zordon's prophecy, Tommy had joined the team and Meredith had felt her power increase with the addition of her brother to the team. She never told anyone how her power was multiplied by her brother's presence, but no one ever asked.

Now she was dealing with something just as difficult. Her boyfriend was leaving the team. She knew he would turn over his power to a replacement, but Meredith didn't know how she felt about it. Bringing a stranger onto the team seemed wrong somehow.

"**Meredith," Tommy said over his communicator.**

"Yes, bro," she answered.

"**We need to teleport to the Command Center. You ready," he asked.**

"I guess," she said before she was whisked away in a purple light.

She was surprised when she arrived and saw Rocky, Adam and Aisha there, as well. They had inadvertently discovered the identities of the rangers recently and they had helped on occasion.

"RANGERS, THIS IS A MOMENTOUS OCCASION. TRINI, ZACK YOU HAVE SERVED WELL AND HONORABLY. YOU WILL BE ASSETS TO THE PEACE CONFERENCE. JASON, YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF A GOOD LEADER AND HONORABLE PERSON BY DOING THE BEST FOR THE TEAM. WHILE I UNDERSTAND YOUR DEPARTURE WILL UPSET MEREDITH, YOU WILL DO GOOD OUTSIDE OF BEING A RANGER. YOU HAVE CHOSEN EXCELLENT AND WORTHY REPLACEMENTS AND, I HOPE, YOUR REMAINING TEAMMATES WILL FIND THEM AS WORTHY AS I DO. ROCKY, ADAM AND AISHA, PLEASE STAND BEFORE THE RANGERS."

Meredith watched as Rocky stood before Jason, Adam before Zack and Aisha before Trini.

The current rangers held out their hands and their power coins were transferred from them to the new rangers.

Despite her apprehension about new members, knowing that she knew the new members of the team made that part a bit more bearable for her.

Everyone congratulated the three and Trini and Zack left with Billy and Kimberly. Jason came over to Meredith and, without saying a word, teleported out of the Command Center to a secluded cove on the beach.

"I wanted our last night to be really special," Jason said. He turned around and revealed a picnic dinner complete with a blanket and the makings for a small fire.

"Thought we could have that picnic we never got to have and we won't be interrupted this time," he said.

"I'm still a ranger, Jase," she said.

"Not for right now, you're not. You won't get called unless it's absolutely necessary. I asked that of Zordon before I turned my power coin over to Rocky. I wanted on normal date with you before I head off to Europe," he said.

Meredith was touched by his gesture. She sat down on the blanket and Jason lit the small fire to provide some warmth from the slight chill coming from the water. The sun was just setting and they ate their meal in silence, just relishing the quiet time with each other.

"Look, Mer, I want you to know that, after I leave, if you want to date again, I'll totally understand. You can't miss out on all the great things that will be happening in the next few months just because I'm not here," he said.

"I don't want you to miss out on anything in Switzerland either. I want you to date. I thought about it and, if we're meant to be together, then we'll find our way back. And if not, we'll always be friends," she said. Meredith didn't honestly believe that she would ever find another guy she cared about as much as Jason, but she had to let him know that she'd live her life normally. Well, as normally as a teenage superhero can be.

"I feel the same. So let's have this perfect night and when I leave, well, we'll take what life throws at us," he said.

Meredith nodded and Jason started kissing her. Now Meredith and Jason were typical teenagers. They were 16 and 17 year olds and the topic of sex had come up several times during their two-year-relationship. Meredith already knew more about her brother's sex life than she wanted to admit to anyone, but she kept that to herself.

However, Jason and Meredith had agreed to NOT take that step before he left. Neither wanted to remember something that was supposed to be so wonderful as being the day they were taken away from each other.

They spent the evening just holding each other, before long Jason's alarm went off, signaling the end of their date.

"Wow, reality calls," he said.

He started putting sand on the fire and Meredith gathered up the blankets. Then she teleported them both to the woods just behind the Scott house. She would ride with them to the airport to drop off Jason.

Meredith and Jason entered the house and the actuality of the situation hit her when she saw all of Jason's luggage stacked by the door.

She gripped his hand tighter as he called out to his parents.

"Mom, Dad, ready," he called.

"Yes we're coming. Oh, good, Meredith's already here. Jason said you wanted to come with us to the airport," Jason's mom said.

"Yes, I hope that's alright," she asked.

"Of course dear," Jason's mom said, pulling her into a hug.

"I have one thing to do first mom. Give me a second," he said.

"Fine sweetie. Your dad will load up the car and we'll leave in 15 minutes, so hurry," she said,

Jason nodded and pulled Meredith to his room.

"What," she asked him.

"I wanted you to have two things. One is the key to this house. When ever you want, come by. If you need to have dinner with my parents or sit in my room. The second is I want you to have this," he said, holding out a box.

Meredith opened it and saw it was a delicate silver chain with locket that held a small ruby in the center.

"I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but since I won't be here, I wanted you to have it now. I engraved it so you would always remember when I gave it to you. And you'd have something to remember me," he said.

He took the chain from Meredith and fastened it around her neck.

Meredith gripped the heart with both hands. "Thank you. I love you, Jason," she said before giving him a kiss and pulling him into a hug.

"I love you, too, Meredith," he said.

The couple broke apart and headed downstairs to the Scott's awaiting car. They sat in the backseat holding hands and Meredith rested her head on Jason's shoulder. Mrs. Scott looked in the rearview mirror at her son and the girl she had come to love as a daughter and knew this was tearing them apart. She noticed the locket Jason had purchased was around her neck and Meredith kept touching it, as if it make sure it was real. She would offer to be there for Meredith when Jason was away, if she wanted her help.

The drive to LAX took an hour and in that time the only thing that the couple in the backseat had said was 'I love you.'

When they pulled up the departure terminal, Meredith knew this was the end of the road for her and Jason.

Jason's dad put his luggage on the rolling cart provided by the airport attendant and then gave his son a hug. "I'm so proud of you. Take care, son. We'll come out and see you for our anniversary, so don't party too much," he said. Jason hugged his dad back.

Jason's mom started crying as she hugged her only child. "You do some good over there. I know you're meant for great things, but I didn't think you'd have to leave home so soon. I love you and you'd better, write or call," she said, hugging her son and kissing him on the cheek. She turned around and got back into the car, leaving Meredith alone with Jason.

"Take care of yourself. Write me and I'll call you mom and dad said they'd pay for those calls since the Peace Conference is covering phone calls to our families. And Billy said I can keep my communicator and talk to you whenever I want, provided you're not in battle. He cleared it with Zordon, so don't hesitate to contact me if you need me and the phone would take too long. I love you and won't forget you," he said, kissing her long and hard.

Meredith was crying and she returned Jason's kiss with relish. When they broke apart all she could say is, "I won't forget you either and I love you. I'll write and we'll talk," she said.

Trini and Zack were waiting on by the terminal door, a signal that he had to go to catch his flight. They shared one last kiss and then he turned and walked away. He glanced back and waved and Meredith waved as well and then slumped back to Scott's car. She got in the backseat and Mrs. Scott felt for her. She was sending her son off to a great opportunity, but Meredith was losing her first love. She didn't know how she'd feel since she and Preston had been together since they were in high school, much like Meredith and Jason. She only hoped that her friends would help her get through this difficult time.

Mr. Scott pulled away from the curb and headed back down the highway to Angel Grove. Meredith looked out the window and silently let the tears fall from her eyes.

*****I wanted to cry writing this chapter. I hope you guys got the emotion involved. The next one, maybe two chapters will be a little angst filled as Meredith struggles with Jason's departure, her duties as a ranger and her surprising feelings for a member of the team.***-mereditholiver**


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but this plot bunny and the character of Meredith. However, she is willing to appear in other stories, if she's asked to do so. ****J**

The Scott's dropped Meredith off at her house and she thanked them and headed inside. Her parent's were still not home, but Tommy's Jeep was parked next to hers in the drive, so he would be home. She wasn't sure if she was happy about that or not. She knew that Tommy would want to talk, but he might just let her do her thing and only bother her if she asked him.

She opened the door and sat her purse on the table in the hallway.

She glanced in the living room and saw Tommy wasn't there. She saw the light coming from the basement and headed downstairs. She figured he was probably working out, trying to take his mind off the events of the day.

Sensing Meredith's arrival, Tommy turned around and approached his sister.

"Hey, sis. You want to talk about it," he said.

"Jason got on a plane and he's headed for a new life. I have to move on with mine now, so I'm going to do that. But I might cry a bit first," she said.

"Well, we can always spar. I'll take it easy on you. Might help," he offered.

Meredith mulled Tommy's offer. Sparring with Tommy and even Jason usually helped her figure out what she was trying to solve. She nodded to her brother and they both headed upstairs. She headed to her room to change into her workout clothes and he went outside. They performed katas and simple karate moves in their basement, but when they couldn't get the Youth Center, they sparred in their backyard.

Meredith exited the house in her workout clothes.

"Want to work on your bow staff moves," he asked. Tommy was a pro at most of the 'weapons' and was trying to get Meredith more proficient.

"Yeah. I would like to get better with that," she said.

Tommy handed her a staff and they faced off in the center of the backyard. They were halfway through their workout when their parents arrived back home. They heard the noise in the backyard and headed out to watch their children. They had discarded their staffs and started sparring. Jane Oliver was amazed when she saw her daughter flip Tommy over her back.

Tommy had called his parents and told them what happened with Jason. They wanted to come right home, but Tommy convinced them to stay. Meredith felt bad enough already without ruining her parents weekend.

They finished their workout by bowing to each other. Tommy tossed his sister a towel and water bottle, then noticed their parents.

"Hey, mom, dad," he said taking a long swig of his water.

"That was impressive, Meri," her mom said.

"Thanks, but he was taking it easy on me," she said, shooting a smile at her brother.

"Tommy called us and told us about Jason. Anything we can do," her dad asked.

"I have to work it out on my own. I'm going to shower and go to bed," Meredith said.

She hugged her parents and Tommy kissed her on the forehead. He didn't have to communicate with words what he was thinking, because Meredith already knew. They would probably talk about it tonight, after everyone else was asleep. Tommy also knew she would get a communicator message from Jason when he arrived. Tommy knew a lot things. It was one of the benefits of being the leader of the power rangers.

He hugged his parents and took the staffs inside and put them in the cabinet in the basement.

He headed upstairs when he heard the phone ring. Meredith and Tommy had their own phone line, so Tommy went to his room to answer the phone, since he heard the shower running in the bathroom.

"Hello," he said.

"Tommy, it's Rocky. I was just calling to check on Meredith. I know today had to be really rough on her," he said.

"She's handling it her own way. We haven't talked about it, but I'm sure she'll be a mess at school tomorrow," Tommy said.

"Yeah, I can only imagine. I also wanted to warn you about something. Someone is putting up posters in the school about the voting for the Spring Fling King and Queen. Someone is using Meredith and Jason's picture from last year to spur on the voting. Apparently the committee didn't know Jason had been selected and by the time they found out, it was too late. I just didn't want Meredith to be too shocked when she sees her and Jason on the flyers, since they are the reigning King and Queen," he said.

"Thanks for the warning, Rocko. I'll make sure to warn her when she comes out of the shower. I'll catch you tomorrow," Tommy said.

"Yeah. Oh, tell Meredith that when ever she's ready to work on our drama project, I'll make the time. It's due in three weeks and I don't want her to forget," he said."Thanks, man. I'll tell her. See you tomorrow," Tommy said.

"Bye."

Tommy hung up the phone and heard Meredith unlock the door on his side of the bathroom. They shared a common bathroom and had a connecting door to their rooms that didn't lead through the bathroom. Meredith always locked his side of the bathroom when she was in there and only locked the door connecting their bedrooms when she wanted to be alone. If he wanted to talk to her, he waited until he either heard the door to his side of the bathroom unlock or checked the lock on the bathroom himself.

He knocked on the door not connected to the bathroom. "Come in," Meredith said.

"Hey, sis," he said coming into the room. Meredith was wearing a pair of gym shorts and a red t-shirt that he assumed had belonged to Jason.

"Who was on the phone," she asked.

"Rocky. He wanted to let you know that he'd be ready whenever you are to work on your drama project and to warn you," Tommy said.

"Warn me about what," she said.

"The Spring Fling is in a month and they're putting up posters around school regarding the voting. They are using the picture of you and Jason from last year to announce the voting for the King and Queen," he said.

Meredith was quiet. She had forgotten about the dance and was now worrying about it. She and Jason had been crowned King and Queen the previous year and now, he wouldn't be there.

"Well, I guess it's only right, I mean they do have to promote the dance and the penny for votes program does raise a lot of money for the Angel Grove Little Haven. It's cool. I'll deal with it tomorrow. Thankfully I have either you or Rocky in my classes," she said. She suppressed a yawn.

"Go to sleep. You'll hear Jason when he calls, trust me," Tommy said. He gave his sister a hug and walked back into his room.

Meredith put her communicator and morpher on her bedside table and turned off the light. She hoped when she woke, this would be a dream, but she knew it wouldn't be. She would start her first day as a Jason Scott's ex-girlfriend and she knew it wouldn't be a good day.

***Poor Meredith. I'm ready to cheer her up, but it's a bit soon and I have something really cute in mind. Enjoy!***-mereditholiver


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but this plot bunny and Meredith. Enjoy. J

Meredith heard her communicator when it went off at 2 in the morning. At first she thought they were being attacked by monsters, but when she heard Jason's voice, she knew he was checking in with her.

"**Hey Merideri," he said through the communicator.**

"Jase. You made it to Switzerland," she said, trying to shake the sleep out of her voice.

"**Yeah, it's really beautiful here and we've got a full day planned for tomorrow, so I don't think I'll be able to get in touch with you for a few days. Just wanted to tell you that I miss you and want you to have fun at the dance that's in a month," he said.**

"I'm not going to go to the dance," she said.

"**Look, Meri, you need to go and try to have a normal life without me there. Maybe we shouldn't talk like this again unless it's an emergency. I don't want you to be miserable over me there in Angel Grove. Go out and enjoy things," he said.**

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Jason was actually suggesting they not talk unless it was an emergency? She was supposed to be content with letters. She was mad at Jason for suggesting it, but he did have a point. Maybe she could get on with her life here if they didn't talk as often. Letters would be better.

"You're right, Jase. Letters might help because I won't be missing you so bad if I'm not hearing your voice all the time," she said.

"**Ok. We'll write letters and I'll call from time to time, but if you really need me, just hit the communicator. I'll be help you no matter what," he said.**

"Ok, Jase. I should get back to sleep. It's after 2 in the morning here and I have school tomorrow. So, I'll write you this week. Love you," she said.

"**I'll write you, too. Love you. Night, Merideri," he said. **

She heard the click of the communicator and knew the link to Jason was closed.

She rolled over in her bed, but she wasn't able to go back to sleep. When her alarm went off at 5, she had made a decision to start a new era with herself at Angel Grove High. She was going to make it, but it was going to be difficult.

She got out of bed and grabbed her work out gear. She heard Tommy rustling in his room, so she knocked on the door to his room.

"Yeah," he said.

"Want to go to the youth center this morning? Thought maybe we could spar a bit before school," she said.

Tommy stared at his sister. He wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to prove, but he was going to support her, no matter what she did.

"That would be good. You're not too sore after yesterday," he asked, concern in his voice.

"You took it easy on me," she said.

Tommy gathered his workout bag and they headed out the door. They grabbed their backpacks and decided they would shower at the Youth Center and then head to school.

Tommy led the way to his Jeep and he drove them both to the Youth Center.

When they arrived in the parking lot they were surprised to see other cars in the parking lot. Meredith saw Billy's Volkswagen, but didn't immediately recognize the other two cars in the parking lot.

"You know who else is here with Billy," Meredith asked her brother.

"Haven't a clue. Let's go inside and see who's here," he said. He opened the door and held it open for his sister and followed behind her. In the middle of the Youth Center Rocky, Adam and Billy were working out.

"Hey, guys. I didn't know you were working out here this morning," Tommy said.

"Well, Adam and Rocky offered to continue helping. I was going to ask you, but I didn't know if you would be willing or not," Billy said.

"I would be glad to help. Mer wanted to get in some sparring this morning," Tommy said.

"I'm going to go change. You guys can decide how you want to work things," Meredith said. She headed toward the locker room, where she put her bag into a locker and headed back out to the floor to work out with the guys.

Adam and Billy were taking direction from Tommy when she emerged and Rocky got up from his seat on the steps.

"Well, you want to go a round with me," he said.

"Sure, why not," she said.

They went to the other side of the Center and faced off. They bowed and took their offensive stances. Rocky wasn't sure how good Meredith was, so he let her take the offensive. He realized quickly that Meredith was quite skilled, something he should have realized since Tommy was her brother and she had sparred regularly with Jason.

Soon, they had both worked up a sweat and Rocky was impressed with Meredith's skills. When she went to grab a drink of water, he suggested the do some katas to cool down. They'd been sparring for 20 minutes. Meredith quickly agreed and they did some easy katas before breaking for the showers.

Tommy approached Rocky when Meredith headed off to showers.

"That was really great of you, man. I don't think Meredith thought about this thing while you were working with her," Tommy said.

"Hey, Mer is a great friend and I'm just trying to help her through this time. But you didn't tell me she was such a good sparring partner. She's got serious skills," he said.

"Yeah, Meri is the best girl I've seen. She's starting to work with the bow staff with me at home, so she's dedicated to martial arts," Tommy said.

The four men headed for the showers and to begin their day at AGH.

***You KNOW something is going to happen to Meredith when she arrives at school. What will happen? Stay tuned***-mereditholiver


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the character of Meredith and the plot bunny that has burrowed itself into my head. J

Meredith emerged from the showers and checked the time. She still had 45 minutes before she had to be in her first period class, so she didn't rush. She dried herself and pulled her school clothes from her gym bag. She wasn't in the mood to impress anyone today, but she did bring her favorite purple top and her favorite jeans. They were a bit worn in all the right places and she felt comfortable in them. She put her dirty gym clothes in the bag and stashed it back in the locker and locked it. She tied her hiking boots, because she never knew if she was going to be battling a monster or putty during her off time.

She pulled her hair up in a octopus clip and let it fall where it wanted. She applied a bit of lip gloss and felt she was ready to face the world.

She exited the locker room and was surprised to find Rocky waiting for her. He had her backpack slung over his shoulder.

"What are you doing," she asked, a small smile on her face.

"I told Tommy I wanted to walk with you this morning. Figured you'd rather have me tag along with you then your brother," he said, smiling at her. Rocky was being a good friend. Meredith didn't understand why Jennifer hadn't seen what a great guy he was when she broke up with him after two dates.

Meredith stopped herself. She was heartbroken over breaking up with Jason and she was thinking Rocky was a good guy. It was too soon for those thoughts.

"You are exactly right. Tommy is probably going to be a pain in my ass this month. At least until the dance is over," she said.

She offered to take her backpack from Rocky and he, reluctantly, handed it over. She thought it was sweet, but it seemed a little two intimate for her to let him carry her bag.

They walked down the hall toward their lockers when Meredith saw the first poster with her and Jason's picture on it.

"You looked really pretty," Rocky said.

Meredith smiled. "It took me forever to get ready that day. Kimberly had me come to her house to get ready and it was just too much. She and Tommy were in the running for King and Queen, but they hadn't been together as long as Jason and I so I guess that's why we won. Anyway, a lot of money was raised for the Little Angels Haven, so it worked out," she said, walking past the poster.

"So are Tommy and Kimberly up for it again this year," he asked.

"I'd imagine. Jason and I would have been, too, but that's not a possibility," she said.

"Look, I know it's none of my business, but are you going to go this year," Rocky asked her.

Meredith opened her locker and stared into it. "Don't know," she said before setting her eyes on a picture of her and Jason. Just then two of the cattiest girls in their class came up behind her and started making snide comments about her and Jason.

"So, Meredith, you're flying solo now. Too bad Jason found Switzerland warmer than you. From what I hear you're just a cold fish and if he went to Switzerland, well I wouldn't have let that happen," Sally Grier said while her friend Lyndsey Smith laughed with her.

"Guess those frigid temps are something Jason should be used to since he dated Meredith. You know, you're nothing like your brother," Lyndsey said.

Meredith tried not to cry and Rocky saw that she was about to break.

"You girls should just move along. Meredith and Jason's relationship is none of your business and I don't think Tommy's girlfriend would appreciate you referring to him that way," Rocky said.

"Don't know why such a great guy like you chooses to be friends with her. Call me if you want a GOOD time," Sally said as she and her friend walked off, probably still talking about Meredith.

The tears slipped out of Meredith's eyes and Rocky caught them before she could wipe them away.

"Hey, they aren't worth it. You and I both know that Jason went to the conference because he wanted to do something else besides being a ranger. You didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes relationships don't work out. Just be glad you two still talk. Sally and Lyndsey are just jealous because they couldn't get with Jason or Tommy. Sally was actually hinting that she wanted me to go to the dance with her," he said, trying to cheer her up.

Meredith sniffled. "She is really pretty."

"Nah. Under all that make up she's pretty ugly. Kinda like one of Rita or Zedd's monsters," he added, quietly.

That caused Meredith to laugh and she immediately hugged him.

Taken by surprise, Rocky returned the hug.

"You really know how to cheer me up," she said.

"That's my job. I'm everyone's best friend," he said.

Meredith took the picture of Jason down and put it in her bag. She took out a picture of her and Tommy and put it in it's place. "Just until I get another one to put there. I don't have any group shots, so this will have to work for now," she said.

"That's the spirit. Come on, let's go to class. I'll even treat you to ice cream if you promise not to let anything get to you this morning," he said.

"YOU'LL buy the ice cream. Then I'm definitely in," she said.

They started toward class and Meredith felt everyone was watching her, expecting her to start crying. She felt like it, but remembered Rocky and Tommy were with her and ignored whatever else was said about her.

When Meredith met Rocky and Tommy for lunch she actually had a real smile on her face.

"What," her brother asked her.

"I made it through the entire morning and Rocky owes me an ice cream," she said.

"Yes, I do," he said, getting up to order an ice cream from Ernie.

He returned to the table with the ice cream and pulled the drama text from his backpack. "How do you want to do this," he said.

"The right way," she said, smiling.

"I mean are we going to do the traditional scene or pick a different one. Will we do monologues or what," he asked.

"I think we should do the kissing scene and the death scene," she said.

Rocky looked at her in shock. Kissing. He wasn't sure how she wanted to play that.

"Don't Romeo and Juliet kiss in those scenes," he asked.

"Yep," she said, licking her spoon.

"OK," he said, making sure he was correct in his assumptions about the play.

"Look, it's nothing. We're just acting. Why don't you come by after school and we'll work on it so we can have it down by the time the project is graded," she said.

"What about classes this afternoon," Tommy asked. Meredith had been so caught up in her ice cream and her conversation with Rocky she forgot her brother was there.

"Adam can cover for Rocky for one afternoon, right," she said, looking at them expectantly.

"I'll ask him during next period and let you know after school," Tommy said.

"We should get going. We don't want to be late for Mr. Parker's Physics class," Meredith said.

Tommy and Rocky uttered a mutual groan.

"Remind me why we're taking Physics," Tommy asked.

"Forget that, why are we taking Physics after lunch," Rocky asked.

Meredith shook her head at her brother and friend. Together they walked to their class.

Surprisingly after the one incident this morning, everyone pretty much left Meredith alone. It might have had something to do with her 'entourage' of friends that wouldn't leave her alone, even when she went to the bathroom.

When the final bell rang, Meredith was ready to head home.

"You know, we haven't been attacked since Trini, Zack and Jason left," Kimberly pointed out.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Seems like they would take the opportunity to strike it they think we're vulnerable with Jason not being around," said Billy.

"Guys, let's not borrow trouble. We're getting a bit of a break. Billy, why don't you check with Alpha and Zordon and see if they have anything to report," Tommy said.

"I'll check back with you guys later," Billy said, heading off to a corner to teleport to the command center.

"I say we take advantage of this day and do something fun," Adam said.

"Meredith and I are going to work on that Romeo and Juliet scene we have to do for Mr. Jackson's class," Rocky said.

"Oh, well anyone up for going to the park," Adam asked."I'm game," Aisha said.

Kimberly and Tommy also agreed to go, so the four headed off toward the park while Rocky and Meredith head toward her house.

"We don't have to do this, you know," Meredith said.

"Yes we do. I don't want to screw up Romeo and Juliet because I don't know the script the right way. Wouldn't want Juliet to outshine me, now would I," Rocky said, giving her a smile.

"Mr. Jackson has no idea what he's gotten me into, does he," she said, smiling back.

She opened the back door of her house and let Rocky into the kitchen."Why don't you grab some sodas while I get the my text from my room," she said.

Rocky walked to the fridge and got out two sodas and sat them on the counter in the kitchen. He sat down in one of the stools and pulled out his script.

Meredith returned with her script and grabbed her soda. "Why don't we go outside and do this," she said.

Rocky shrugged. He wasn't going to argue with Meredith.

She sat her soda on the patio.

"We can pretend this is the hall and do the scene right here," Rocky nodded and the two charged into the scene.

Tommy arrived when they were practicing the scene for the third time, but had yet to practice the actual kiss in Act I, Scene V.

As they got the line, where Rocky usually looked away, Meredith kissed him. "We have to do that part Rocky. We can't ignore it," she said.

Rocky agreed, but he wasn't quite sure how to handle it.

Tommy came home just as they were heating up for the big part of the scene. They were running the scene one final time and this time it was perfect. Tommy couldn't help but applaud.

"That was great. I really believed you two were Romeo and Juliet," he said.

Rocky was embarrassed and he thanked Tommy and Meredith and said he had to get home.

He grabbed his bag and headed toward his home.

"God, you really know how to clear a room," she said to her brother.

Tommy just laughed and shook his head and followed her inside.


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but this plot bunny and the character of Meredith.

**TWO WEEKS LATER**

Meredith was amazed that two weeks had passed since Jason had left her life. She had received one letter, but it was short and said he was really busy. She kind of understood because she was really busy herself. She was helping plan the Spring Fling, which was really comforting to her for some odd reason. She'd gone shopping with Kimberly for her dress and was getting excited watching her best friends get ready.

She and Rocky were presenting their drama project the Friday before the dance and she felt they were ready. The funny thing was, she was actually looking forward to those kissing parts. She just hoped Rocky didn't notice.

Meredith sat down at her desk to write a letter to Jason when Tommy knocked on the door. She'd left the connecting door open, but he still knocked. She guessed he was making sure it was OK for him to come inside. He'd been guarding her feelings a lot lately.

"Yeah, bro. What's up," she asked him, looking up from her letter.

"You writing to Jase," he asked.

"Yeah. His last letter was short, but I know he's busy. It's amazed me at how I've gotten used to him not being around. I missed his phone call yesterday evening because I was out shopping with Kim and I wasn't as devastated as I had been before. It's only been two weeks. Have I forgotten about him already," she asked her brother.

"I just think you have some wonderful friends who have taken it upon themselves to make you feel better. Rocky's been spending a lot of time with you. Could that have something to do with it," Tommy asked.

Meredith sat down her pen and stood up from her desk. "I hadn't thought about it. I mean, Rocky was always a friend of us both, but I guess he and I have been spending a lot of time together lately. He's been really sweet. I don't know why he won't accept those offers to go to the dance," she said to Tommy.

"Maybe because he wants to go with you," he said.

Meredith turned around and faced her brother.

"What are you talking about," she said.

Tommy rolled his eyes at his sister, amazed at her reaction.

"And you get on me about being dense. Rocky's always had a crush on you. He doesn't want to do anything about it because of you having just broken up with Jase," Tommy said, sitting on Meredith's bed.

"Really," she said.

"Yeah, he told Adam that he didn't want to ask you out but wanted to have you in his life as a friend. He wanted you to know that you could always count on him. Even if he never got to date you," he said.

Meredith flopped down on the bed next to her brother. "I had no idea. I've always thought Rocky was cute, but never said anything because of Jason. The other day, I was actually thinking about how great he is and how some girl is going to be lucky to have him. Then the thought of that made my stomach turn. I never thought…" she said, trailing off.

Tommy wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulder. "Maybe you should talk to him. You know, there are still two weeks until the dance. I'm sure you could get a date and dress, if you want," he said.

He got up off the bed and left Meredith to her thoughts. She decided she was going to use the communicator and contact Jason. This seemed like an emergency and she only hoped he'd listen.

"Jase, can you talk," she said.

"**Of course, Meri, I'm alone in my room at the moment," he said.**

"What do you think about me going to the dance with Rocky," she asked.

"**I think it would be great," he said.**

"I think I like him and want to go to the dance and see what happens," she said.

"**I'm glad you contacted me because I wanted to talk to you."**

"About what."

"**Well, I've met a really nice girl from South Africa here at the conference and I'm thinking of asking her to dinner."**

"I think you should."

"**This is a very weird conversation, isn't it."**

"Yes, it is. We are talking about the new people in our lives and I'm not the least bit upset. That's too weird."

"**Tell me about it. Look, you go and have fun and I'll go and have fun and we'll tell each other about it when it's over."**

"OK, I can do that. Thanks, Jase. Bye," she said.

"**Bye, yourself," he said.**

Meredith heard the communicator click off and she went to look out her window. She was surprised to see Rocky and Adam in the backyard with her brother. She saw a flash of pink coming across the yard and figured Kim and Aisha were coming to the group. Meredith decided to talk to Rocky about the dance. He may have accepted a date, but she was going to have to try.

She checked her appearance in the mirror, deciding she would pass the muster, headed outside to catch her friends.

"Hey, Meri. I was wondering when you were going to come outside. Mom and dad went to get some stuff and we're having a cook-out. Everyone's here," Tommy said.

"That's awesome. Actually I was going to head over to Rocky's but since your already here, Rocko, can we talk," she asked.

"Sure. Everything OK," he asked.

"Fine, I just want to run something by you," she said.

She led him back into the house and closed the back door. "Want something to drink," she asked, her nervousness getting the best of her.

"Yeah," he replied, wondering what had gotten Meredith so nervous. He was the most confident person he knew so this must be something big.

She placed a glass of water in front of Rocky and took a deep breath."Have you thought about going to the dance," she asked.

"Yes. I actually hope to have a date here pretty soon," he said.

"Really," she answered, trying to mask her disappointment.

"Mer, what's the matter," he asked.

"Nothing, I just wanted to thank you for being such a great friend to me these last few weeks. I was actually thinking about going to the dance," she said.

"You were? Did you get asked," he said, quickly.

"No," she answered simply.

"Well, would you consider going with me," he asked her.

Meredith spilled her water all over the counter. She wasn't expecting Rocky to ask her, especially after she heard he already had an idea of someone he wanted take.

"I thought you were going to have a date," she said, wiping up the counter with some paper towels.

Rocky was helping her, when he put his hand on her cheek and she looked at him.

"Meredith Oliver, I think you are the most beautiful, fun, caring woman in the world. I hoped I could be your friend because I didn't want to ask you out because of that whole thing with Jason. I told Tommy I was going to ask you this evening and wanted his 'permission' to ask you. I really like you, Meri, and I would love to spend more time with you. Do you want to go with me," he asked, his hand still on her cheek.

"Yes. I'll go with you," she said, smiling and placing her hand on his cheek. He looked into her eyes and she knew he was going to kiss her. Really kiss her. She allowed herself to be pulled closer to him and when their lips touched, Meredith's heart soared.

When they broke apart, Rocky looked at her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It wasn't very gentlemanly of me," he said.

Meredith kissed him quickly on the lips. "That wasn't very ladylike of me, but too bad, I liked it," she said. Her statement brought a huge smile to Rocky's face and they joined hands. They stood there for a few minutes until she heard the garage door open and her parents coming inside the house. Rocky and Meredith pulled apart, not because they were embarrassed, but because they weren't quite sure how to act.

"Need some help, Mrs. Oliver," Rocky asked.

"That would be great, Rocky. Thank you. Just put that bag on the counter. James is getting the grill ready for cook out," she said.

"Want me to help you get ready, Mom," Meredith asked.

"No dear, go enjoy your friends. It's good to see you so happy again," she said.

"OK. Oh, would it be alright if I went to the mall later and bought a dress for the dance."

"Fine, dear, but I didn't think you were going to go.""Well, everyone is going and I would like to see Tommy and Kimberly get the crown this year," she said.

"So I guess Rocky finally asked you to the dance," her mom said, putting vegetables on the cutting board to make a salad.

Meredith and Rocky looked at each other, a blush rising on both of their faces.

"Don't act so surprised dear. Your father and I think Rocky is a lovely guy. Take my card from my purse and go after dinner," she said.

Meredith gave her mother a hug. "Thanks mom," she said.

Rocky opened the back door for her and they headed back into the fray of friends in her back yard.

Adam and Tommy had started sparring and Kim and Aisha were discussing hair for the dance.

"Guess you're going to have to help me get a dress tonight, Kim," Meredith told her best friend.

"REALLY," she practically screamed, catching the attention of Tommy and Adam.

"Everything OK over there," Tommy asked, concern in his voice.

"Fine, bro. Kim and I are going shopping after dinner," she said.

Tommy turned to Rocky. "So you actually did it? Well, I'm glad. Just don't make me give you the big brother speech," he said, smacking Rocky on the back.

Everyone continued talking about school and such and enjoying time together without being interrupted. Despite the lull they had just after Jason and the others left, Rita had been hitting them with monsters nearly everyday. Meredith was attacked by putties on the way home from school the day before and was really pissed when she got home. The putties had torn the strap on her new backpack and Rita had turned it into the Back Packer, a monster who trapped things in his huge backpack. It caught Meredith by surprise and she had been trapped in the backpack. Luckily, they had defeated the monster before he could trap anyone else and rescue Meredith. She was terribly upset that she'd allowed herself to be captured, but was reminded that things happen. 'Look at all the times I've been kidnapped' Kimberly had said, bringing a smile to her face.

When the meal was over, the guys elected to watch a movie while the girls headed off to the mall to get Meredith a dress for her date with Rocky. They piled into Meredith's Jeep and headed to the mall.

***Meredith and Rocky, yay! But it won't be smooth sailing. How can it ever be? Hope you're enjoying.***-mereditholiver


	14. Chapter 14

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for Meredith and this wonderful plot bunny. Hope everyone is enjoying it. This is been a lot of fun to write.

Meredith, Kimberly and Aisha got to the mall and Meredith found herself immediately being pulled into the closest dress shop. Meredith liked to shop, but Kimberly and Aisha took it to an extreme that she couldn't understand.

"I'm going to assume that we're going with a shade of purple," Kimberly said, winking at Meredith.

"Just like you're going with a shade of pink," she said.

They walked around the store and Meredith picked out several different dresses that she felt would work, but Kimberly didn't think they had the 'wow' factor.

"Trust me girl," she kept saying.

Meredith shook her head. While they were in their fifth store, she found it.

It was a long dark purple strapless column gown with a lavender sash around the waist. The gown would skim the top of her shoes. She twirled around in front of the mirror and felt, for the first time in weeks, really happy.

"That's it Meri. That's the dress. I can't WAIT to see Rocky's face when you come down the stairs. Wow," Kimberly said.

"It's amazing. It feels like it was made for me. But now I have to find shoes," Meredith said, still staring at her dress in the mirror.

"We'll find the perfect shoes. My boy, Rocky, isn't gonna know what hit him. I've honestly never seen him so gaga over someone like his is over you. I hope you know that," Aisha said.

"I really like Rocky. He's not Jason, but he's different and I think that's what I need. Jason told me he's going on a date this weekend with a girl from the conference," she said from behind the dressing room wall.

"Really? He told you," Kimberly asked, curious about their conversation.

"Yeah. He actually wanted to tell me he thought he wanted to go out with her, but he wanted me to know. And, you know what, it didn't bother me like I thought it would," she said, stepping out of the dressing room with the dress.

She handed the dress to the sales attendant and the three girls headed to the shoe section. It didn't take Meredith long to find the strapped shoes she wanted. She chose a simple style with rhinestone accents up the center of the shoe. They were simple, but added a bit of shine to Meredith's outfit.

She paid for her purchases and the group headed out to the car. They had placed the dress and shoes carefully in Meredith's backseat when they were surrounded by putties.

"Oh, I knew this was going to happen," Meredith said.

The three girls stood in their fighting stance and face off with the putties. The guys teleported in a few minutes later and the crew easily handled the putties.

Tommy contacted Zordon and Alpha.

"Any monsters," he asked.

"**Nothing on the scanners, Tommy," Alpha responded.**

"Rita must be up to something big, if she's sending putties, but no monsters," Tommy said.

"**I'll keep scanning. I'll contact you if I have news," Alpha said.**

"We should all be on guard this week. I have a feeling something big is brewing," Tommy said.

The crew agreed and the guys teleported back to the Oliver's house while the girls drove back in the Jeep.

"Looked like Meredith found herself a dress, Rocky," Tommy said.

"Looks like. Oh, man, I'm starting to get really nervous about this whole thing. What if I act like a total idiot? What if she starts to miss Jason," he asked Tommy.

"You asked her out and she said yes. I think it's safe to say she's open to the possibility of you guys getting together," Adam said, trying to reassure his best friend.

"I wouldn't have said to ask her if I didn't think she held some kind of mutual interest. You don't have to worry. You've been a great friend to her the last few weeks, just go with that," Tommy said.

They heard Meredith's Jeep hit the driveway and the guys went to the driveway to greet them.

"Alpha say anything about the Rita situation," Kimberly asked.

"Just to keep on our toes. Zordon and Alpha don't know what is being planned," Tommy said, taking Meredith's dress and shoe bag from the back of the Jeep.

"Oh, no you don't," Aisha said.

"What," Tommy asked innocently.

"You want to sneak a peek at the dress. It's not going to happen. Meredith is going to take it upstairs," Aisha said.

Meredith smiled at the look on Tommy's face. It was rare that someone could put the great Tommy Oliver in his place and Aisha had done just that. She took the stuff from her brother and headed to put the dress in the back of her closet.

She hung the dress in the closet and closed the door when she heard a soft knock on the open door of her room. She turned around and saw Rocky standing there.

"I'm not trying to peek at the dress. Aisha and Kimberly are acting like it's some kind of taboo thing for any of the guys to see the girls dresses. It's a bit intimidating," he said.

"Let Kim and Sha have their fun. You'll see it in a few weeks and then you can see if the surprise was worth it," she said.

"Mer, I just want you to know that if you don't want to go with me, I totally understand," he said.

"Rocky, I want to go with you. Listen, tomorrow night Kim and Tommy and Adam and Aisha are going on a double date. Why don't we make it a triple date? That way, we can see how this whole dating thing would be with us," she said.

"That could work. I guess I'll pick you up and we'll meet everyone at the movies," Rocky said.

"My thoughts exactly," she said. She walked closer to Rocky and he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist.

Meredith was taken aback by his comfortable gesture and Rocky, unable to read her, immediately took his hands away.

"I'm sorry, Mer. It just felt so right, but I wasn't thinking," he said, frowning.

"Don't apologize. I liked it. It felt natural to me, also. I've never had any one do that to me before. Jason always turned me around and wrapped his arms around from behind. Your way felt…right," she said.

She stepped back into Rocky's personal space and he wrapped his arms around her again. She put her cheek against his chest and felt contented for the first time since the whole ambassador mess had started.

Rocky rested his head on the top of her head and marveled at how well they fit together.

"Rocky, you ready to go," Adam called up the stairs.

Meredith looked up at him. "You're ride is leaving you," she said.

"I know. I have to get home and help mom with the kids. Dad's on a week-long business trip. I'm amazed she let me out of the house this evening," he said.

Meredith reached up and gave him a kiss. Rocky was surprised at the forwardness, but kissed her back. When they pulled apart, they smiled at each other.

"I could get used to this," she said.

He could only smile before Adam yelled up the stairs again. He quickly kissed Meredith again and promised to call her that night after the kids had settled down.

Meredith waved at him as he went down the steps. He and Adam headed out the door, leaving Meredith alone with her brother.

"Where did Kim and Sha go," she asked Tommy as he came up the stairs."Kim had to head home and she was dropping Aisha off on the way. Before you ask, I didn't go because I wanted to talk to you," he said.

"Not about Rocky," she said.

"No, actually about Jason," he said.

"Oh," Meredith replied. She re-entered her room and sat down on her bed. Tommy followed suit and sat on the window seat.

"I know Jason's got a date this weekend," Tommy said."Yeah, he told me," she answered.

"I know you like Rocky, but you're not going out with him because of Jason, are you," he asked.

Meredith looked at her brother. For their entire lives, Tommy and Meredith had been able to read each other. If Meredith were going out with Rocky to merely get back at Jason, she would have expected Tommy to figure that out."No. I like Rocky and I would like to see where it is going to go," she said.

"That's what I thought, but I had to make sure. Gotta look out for my little sister," he said.

"I know and it's starting to drive me crazy," she said, shooting him a smile.

Tommy got up and walked to the bed. "I could tickle you for that, you know," he said.

"Yeah, but you won't," Meredith said, laughing.

***Now that Meredith and Rocky are going to the dance, what do you think is going to happen? Surprises abound.*** -mereditholiver


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except this plot and the character of Meredith Oliver. Enjoy!

It was the next day, a Friday. Meredith and Rocky had planned on joining Tommy and Kimberly on their date. Adam and Aisha were going to double date with them, but Adam had a family thing come up, so Aisha bowed out of going alone. She said she was going to wait and see how Adam's thing with his family turned out.

So, Meredith was standing in front of her closet, trying to decide what she was going to wear. She thought she should probably wear something casual, but not too casual, so wearing jeans was not going to be a good idea.

She chewed on her bottom lip, deep in thought when Tommy knocked on their adjoining door.

"What," she nearly yelled, frustrated .

"Easy, sis. Can't figure out what to wear," he asked his sister.

Instead of a reply, Meredith shot him a look that could have melted ice.

"Sorry. I'm heading out to get Kim. We're meeting you and Rocky at the restaurant at 7:30, right," he asked.

"Yeah, if I can ever find something to wear by then," she said.

Tommy just chuckled and headed out the door. Meredith went back to looking for something suitable to wear on her date.

After searching through everything, twice, she finally decided on a floral printed dress with a tiered skirt. Since the dress was strapless, she pulled a light-weight white sweater with three-quarter sleeves to cover her arms. She pulled her black sandals out of their spot in her shoe rack and buckled them. She finished her makeup and pulled her hair up into a French braid. She grabbed her small purple bag, just as she heard the doorbell ring.

She took a deep breath. Her father called to her, "Meredith, Rocky's here," he said.

She took one more quick look in the mirror and opened her bedroom door and headed out her bedroom door.

Rocky was talking with her dad and had his back to the steps when Meredith came downstairs.

Rocky was wearing black dress pants and a red and white polo shirt. Meredith was glad she had chosen her dress. It was casual, like Rocky's outfit.

"Wow, Meredith, you look great," Rocky said, staring at her in awe.

"Thanks. See you guys tomorrow, since I know you'll be asleep when I get home," Meredith said kissing her parents on the cheek and letting Rocky lead her out the door.

He shut the door behind them and offered his arm for her to take as he escorted her to his car. He opened the passenger door for her and closed after she climbed inside the car. He walked around the front of the car and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Want to listen to the radio or CD or anything," he asked, wiping his hands on his pants.

"We can talk, if you want," she said, feeling as nervous as Rocky was looking.

"Sure," he said, starting the car and backing out of the Oliver's driveway.

"So, have you eaten at this restaurant before," Rocky asked.

"No, I haven't. Tommy and Kim have a couple of times, I think that's why they picked it. Seems like we're just tagging along," Meredith said.

"I really like that dress. I know the whole color obsession is crazy, but purple's a good color on you," he said, flashing a smile.

"I know. You look really good in red, though," she said.

They chatted about school during the ten minute drive to the restaurant.

Rocky parked his Sidekick next to Tommy's white Jeep. Not seeing anyone in the car, he assumed Kim and Tommy were already in the restaurant. He turned off the car and got out. He rushed around the side to help Meredith out of the car. Meredith was touched by his gentlemanly ways. She took his outstretched hand and held it as they went inside the quaint place.

It was an Italian place with candles in wine bottles on the tables. Rocky quickly spotted Kimberly and Tommy in the back table. He let Meredith get in front of him and, with a hand on her back, guided her to the table that held her brother and best friend.

"Hey, guys. Meri, I see you found something to wear," Tommy said, grinning at his sister.

"I just went into your closet and found something," she said, shooting him a smirk. Tommy smiled at his sister and shook hands with Rocky. The guys sat on one side with the girls on the other.

"He's horrible, isn't he," Kimberly said.

"Sometimes and you CHOSE to date him. I HAVE to live with him," Meredith said.

The couples settled into a comfortable banter while waiting for their pasta orders. When the food arrived they all ate with relish and soon it was time to pay the check.

Kimberly and Meredith went to the rest room while the guys paid the bill.

Kimberly applied some powder from her compact and Meredith reapplied her lip gloss.

"So, what do you think of Rocky," Kim asked.

"What do you mean? We've been friends for a while now, since before Jason left for the conference. It's a bit weird being on a date with him and I think he realizes that. It's also taken a bit of getting used to when he's fighting in the red uniform. I only recently realized that it's not Jason. Isn't that weird," she asked.

"No, because I've felt the same way," Kim said. "But I do think you and Rocky are a cute couple. He really likes you," she added.

"Well, we'll see how this movie thing goes. I enjoy spending time with him. I just hope he doesn't find me boring," she said.

Kim smiled as she opened the door to the bathroom and they were met by their dates.

Taking their dates hands, Rocky and Tommy led them out the door.

Rocky and Meredith never noticed Sally standing the corner, watching Rocky and Meredith closely. _'Well that explains why he acted like he wasn't interested. He's really into THAT. I can't believe it. Meredith Oliver has to be the most boring girl I've ever met, yet she has the hottest guy in school for a brother and then she hooks up with the other hottest guys in school. Something must be done,' she thought to herself. _As she devised her plan, a cruel smile crossed her face.

***OMG, what is Sally going to do? Read on. 'Gotta love it.' -mereditholiver


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the character of Meredith and Sally, I guess I have to claim her, too.

Meredith and Rocky followed Tommy and Kimberly to the Cineplex. It was a new one in town that featured stadium style seating. "Promise me we won't sit next to Tommy and Kim. Jason used to want to sit with them, then nobody did anything," she said.

"We'll sit wherever you want. I wouldn't want to ruin our first date," he said.

They stood in the ticket line behind Tommy and Kim, who were debating what movie they were going to see. Rocky would see anything, as long as Meredith wanted. He'd even sit through a 'chick-flick' as long as Meredith was happy.

They four decided they would see the latest horror movie. Meredith admitted she loved horror movies, even though they scared her to death.

"You're scared of horror movies after the monsters we fight," Rocky asked, amused at Meredith's answer.

"Well, I know that Zedd is a lot scarier than anything on the screen, but it's kind of weird. I guess because I'm watching as an ordinary girl, I get scared. Gives me an excuse to grab your arm, though," she said smiling.

Rocky took her hand and they went and got sodas and popcorn. Rocky remembered Meredith at a weakness for chocolate, especially plain chocolate bars. He made sure he got one for her, just to show he'd remembered the little things about her.

"We're going to set over here," Kimberly pointed to the center aisle near the back. Meredith and Rocky elected to take the left side near the back. They were across, but two rows in front of Tommy and Kimberly. That should give them privacy to watch the movie without watching their public displays. Meredith shook her head. She wondered if Tommy knew how much Meredith really knew about his relationship with Kimberly.

Rocky and Meredith settled down in their chairs with their drinks and popcorn. Rocky pulled the chocolate bar from his pocket and gave it to her.

"What's this for," she said, taking the chocolate from him. A huge smiled lit up her face.

"I remembered how much you love those, so I thought you should have one for during the movie," he said.

Meredith couldn't believe the thoughtfulness. Sure it was just a candy bar, but it was her favorite and he'd remembered.

"That was really sweet. Thank you," she said, leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I wonder what I would have gotten if I'd given you a whole pound of chocolate," he said, grinning. Meredith lightly punched him in the arm and Rocky grabbed it, acting like she broke his arm.

'"You're too funny, you know that," she said.

Rocky laughed and smiled back. The lights dimmed in the theater and Meredith settled back in her seat. She peeked at Rocky and saw him smiling at her. She smiled back and reached for his hand, which he gladly took and held in his own. The previews for the movie started and soon Meredith was hiding her head in Rocky's shoulder. After the second time, he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. Meredith placed her head on his shoulders and gripped his shirt when she got scared. Rocky had to admit, he would never have thought Meredith was the scared type.

By the end of the movie, Meredith had to admit, while scared most of the time, she enjoyed the movie with Rocky. It might have had something to do with her clinging to him during the scary parts.

When the lights came up, Meredith glanced back at her brother and Kimberly and they were composing themselves. She was willing to bet they hadn't seen any of the movie.

"So what is it time to get you home or do you think we could hang for a while," Rocky asked as he helped Meredith up from her seat.

"Mom and dad are attending some kind of police conference in San Diego, so they're gone for the weekend. I don't really have a curfew since I'm 'out' with Tommy. You can come by the house if you want. I'm sure we can watch something on TV or we can talk," she said.

"Sounds good. I don't really have a curfew on the weekends, just so I call mom. Plus dad came home this morning, so I don't have to help as much as I have been," he said.

"So let's see what Tommy and Kimberly want to do and head back to the house," Meredith said.

They met up with Kimberly and Tommy in the lobby of the Cineplex and talked about their plans. Tommy was cool with Rocky coming by the house. Kimberly had to be home by 12:30, so he would take her home before her curfew. They could hang back at the Oliver's until then.

***Da,da,da,da. I hear the sharks circling.***-mereditholiver


	17. Chapter 17

DISCLAIMER: Everyone should know Meredith is mine. Sally is also a figment of my imagination, although I had no idea I could be that evil. Everything else belongs to someone else.

They exited the theater and headed toward their cars. Then Meredith noticed Sally standing next to Rocky's car.

"Sally, what are you doing by my car," Rocky asked, walking to the passenger side to help Meredith into the car.

"I was just wondering why in the world you were out with Meredith? I mean, her first boyfriend ran off to Switzerland because she was too frigid for him and you know she's adopted, which would explain why she and Tommy are nothing alike. Maybe you should think about that and call me when you want a 'real' woman," Sally said. "Sally, leave me alone. Meredith and I are on a date and you were NOT invited. Kindly leave," Rocky said. He opened the door for Meredith and helped her inside. He walked to the driver's side and opened his door and slipped inside. Sally stood on the curb waving at him as he left the parking lot.

"Are you ok, Mer. I can't believe that she would do something like that and in public," he said.

"It's fine, Rocky. You know I never had a problem with people at school. I learned early on how to tell if a girl wanted to be my friend or wanted to use me to get to Tommy. And for the record, Tommy and I are biological twins. We really are brother and sister," she said.

Rocky reached over and grabbed her hand. "I don't care about any of that Mer. I want to go out with you and I want to know all about you. You've fascinated me since the first day I met you," he said.

Meredith, who had been trying not to cry, couldn't stop herself. She started crying.

"Meredith, are you OK? Do I need to stop," Rocky asked, suddenly very concerned about the sudden change in Meredith's attitude.

"I'm fine, Rocky. That was just really sweet of you to say," she said.

Rocky pulled into the driveway of the Oliver's behind Meredith's Jeep. Tommy was standing on the porch.

"What did Sally want," he asked when Meredith and Rocky came on the porch, hand-in-hand.

"She was spewing her usual dissing of Meredith. She's worse than any of Rita's monsters," Rocky said, causing Meredith to laugh.

"OK. Kimberly said that Sally was hoping you'd ask her to the dance and I wanted to make sure everything was OK. Kim and I are hanging in the living room, so you guys can have the family room."

"Thank goodness. I thought you were going to say we had to go to the workout room. It was starting to smell like your feet," Meredith said, entering the front hall of the house.

"It only smelled that way because I got sprayed by that skunk monster the other day," Tommy said, trying to defend himself.

Meredith made a 'W' with her fingers and walked past her brother.

Meredith led the way to the family room.

Tommy and Meredith lived in a split level home. The living room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast nook were on the main floor with the upper floor containing the master bedroom and Meredith and Tommy's bedrooms. They had an adjoining bathroom with their room and there was another bathroom at the top of the stairs. The lower level had a bathroom, bedroom and the family room. The laundry room was also on that level. The family room had the big screen TV with surround sound and leather furniture. The basement level had the workout room with mats and weights that Meredith and Tommy used when they felt like working out.

"I really like your house, Mer. It looks like your parents really want you and Tommy to spend time here with your friends," Rocky said as he and Meredith settled down on the couch.

"Mom and dad always wanted a big family. When our birth mom went into early labor, they were shocked. Apparently she suffered a stroke brought on by pregnancy induced high blood pressure. They had no idea she was expecting twins and neither did her doctor. Our birth father was dead and her family wasn't able to care for one, let alone two babies. Since mom and dad were all set to adopt one baby, they eagerly accepted the second. Tommy was born first, so I was the surprise. They were getting two kids, so they felt comfortable with that. They felt blessed to have adopted us, so they never tried to do it again. We never felt weird about being adopted. My parents are my parents. Tommy and I were really glad to find out we really were siblings," Meredith said, flipping through the channels on the TV.

***I bet you thought Sally was gonna get them right there. Well, you're wrong. We should soon find out how Sally's going to handle this and what exactly Rita and Zedd will do to them. It's been a little too quiet, don't you agree?***-mereditholiver.


	18. Chapter 18

DISCLAIMER: Meredith is mine and so is Sally, although I would love to say she's an evil spawn of Rita and Zedd, although, stranger things have happened.

Meredith and Rocky started talking about their families and their goals. They talked about how scared they were the first time they had to morph. They talked about their previous relationships.

They were still talking when Tommy called downstairs that he was taking Kimberly home and he'd be back soon.

Meredith called up after him and resumed her conversation with Rocky.

They continued talking about their schoolwork and activities before they turned serious.

"Rocky, why do you want to go out with me? Is it because you think you have to replace Jason's entire role on the team," she asked.

"No way. I would never think that. I guess I should tell you this so you can laugh, but remember that first day at the Youth Center," he asked. Meredith nodded and he continued. "Well, I saw you talking to that group of cheerleaders and mentioned to Adam and, apparently your brother, that I thought you were a babe. That you were all sweet and innocent and beautiful, like a baby. Anyway, I'm really glad Tommy liked my explanation because I thought he was going to hurt me," he said.

Meredith laughed at the story. "That's really sweet. If you want, you can call me babe, anytime," she said.

"I do like you Meredith and even if we weren't rangers, I'd still want to hang with you. You're a great girl and I know it had to be really tough for Jason to leave you. I would never leave you," he said.

Meredith smiled and kissed him. Rocky pulled back and looked at her, before Meredith pulled him back to kiss him again. The only thing that broke the apart was Tommy opening the basement garage door. As she and Rocky pulled apart, she knew her brother had done it on purpose.

"I should head home, Mer. I'll call you tomorrow morning and maybe we can go to the park. I promised mom I'd do the lawn in the morning when I thought dad wasn't going to be home. I'll still do the lawn and earn those extra points. Maybe we can go to the Lake Festival and head out on a boat. Might be kind of cool," he said.

"I'd like that," she said, getting up off the couch. She walked Rocky up the stairs and out to the front porch.

"I had a great time and I'm sorry my brother has such bad timing," she said.

"Don't. I had a great time, too, and we'll have more time together later. I'll call you," he said. He leaned in and gave Meredith kiss that had her toes tingling. He pulled away and walked down the steps to his car. He got in and waved. She waved back and went back inside. She locked the door, turned around and ran smack into the chest of her 6'1" brother.

"Spying? Really? Why not just try the communicator," she said, perturbed by her brother's overprotective nature.

"I wasn't spying. I was make sure you got inside alright," he said.

"Right," she said, walking around her brother and up the stairs to her room. Tommy followed right behind.

"I just want to know how it went," he said.

"You're worse than Kimberly, do you know that. You're going to get on the phone as soon as you can and give Adam the low down on the date and make him feel bad that he missed out. Or you'll call Kimberly and give her all the details she knows you'll get and then she'll call Sha and tell her and by the morning, EVERYONE in Angel Grove will know what I think of Rocky DeSantos," Meredith said.

"Stop it right there. I will not go running to Adam," Tommy said.

"No, you'll go running to Kimberly. She's probably got the phone right by her bed so you can give her the latest. You are so bad," she said to her brother.

"I just want to know. If you tell me to keep it to myself, I will," he said.

Meredith sat down next to her brother. She knew that if she said to keep it to himself that he would.

"I really like Rocky. He's so different from Jason and he's so thoughtful. I can see myself dating him. I really, really like him. He asked all kinds of questions about how I felt about being adopted, having you as a brother, being a ranger and about Jason leaving. He listened. I think I could fall in love with that guy, Tommy. I really do," she said.

Tommy was shocked. Meredith was always cautious with her feelings. He knew she hadn't mentioned anything about love with Jason until they had been together for months. She and Rocky had one date and Meredith thought he was the one. Tommy had to admit that if Meredith felt that strongly about Rocky, then maybe he was wrong in thinking that Jason and Meredith were soul mates. Maybe she needed to break up with Jason to meet her soul mate.

"I'm glad you're happy. Rocky's been really cool with you during this whole Jason thing. I'm not going to pry," Tommy said.

"Yeah, right," she said, smiling.

"OK. I might ask questions, but I'm going to respect your right to be alone. I just want you to be happy. That's the only thing I have ever wanted," he said.

"Thanks. Now, I think it's time for bed," she said.

Tommy hugged his sister and headed toward his room.

He closed the door and slipped off his shoes. He picked up his phone and dialed Kimberly's number. She answered on the first ring.

"Hey," he said.

"Did you talk to her," she asked.

Tommy was about to say something when Meredith opened the door to his room from the hallway and leaned against the door. "Please tell Kimberly I said hi and I had a wonderful time." She shut the door with a grin and headed back into her room, leaving Tommy to talk to his girlfriend.

Tommy gave Kimberly a quick run down and then hung up the phone. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth when the phone rang. He heard Meredith answer it.

"Hello," she said.

"I just wanted to say good night," Rocky said.

"Good night and thank you for a fun night," she said.

"I should be thanking you. I've never spent such a fun evening with such a beautiful woman before," he said.

"Thanks. Good night," she said.

"Night, babe," he said.

Meredith hung up the phone and turned off the light. She smiled as she went to sleep, thinking of her great time with Rocky.

***What a night! Now, you do realize Sally's going to muck it up, somehow. I wonder what she'll do?***-mereditholiver


	19. Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: Nothing is mine, but Meredith and that witch Sally and the plot. Everything else belongs to someone else.

ON THE MOON

Rita and Zedd had been observing the lovelorn Power brats on Earth and decided to wreak a little havoc on their love lives.

"I say we cast a spell to make that new red ranger fall for that girl, Sally. She's got something evil about her that I like," Zedd said.

"What better way to get those rangers to fall apart than to get them to fight amongst each other. If Rocky dumps Meredith, unceremoniously, and starts seeing Sally, not only is Meredith going to be upset at him, but so is Tommy and probably Kimberly and Billy. Those other two will probably side with Rocky because they've been friends with him the longest. This could be just what we need. Have them destroy themselves and then we can take conquer Earth," Rita said.

"I will cast a spell on the picture Rocky has of Meredith. He'll be filled with doubt that Meredith really wants to be with him and is only with him because he's Jason's replacement as red ranger. He'll break up with her publicly at school and then turn his attentions to Sally. That should fix that little purple ranger," Zedd said.

The cackling of Rita and laughter of Zedd could be heard all through the moon palace.

Zedd sent his staff to zap the picture of Meredith with the rest of the team in Rocky's locker and waited to for the weekend to end.

MONDAY MORNING

After a fun weekend spent with her friends and especially Rocky, Meredith was excited to see him at school this morning. She took extra care in picking out her outfit. She settled on a jean skort and a purple half shirt and a jean jacket. She fixed her hair in a half ponytail and laced up her brown hiking boots, since you never know. She grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs to have breakfast with Tommy. They had gone on their usual run this morning and Meredith was surprised she'd beat her brother back downstairs.

She was getting the juice glasses out of the cabinet when her dad came downstairs in his uniform.

"Morning, dad," she said, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, Meri. How are you this morning? Did you and Tommy go jogging this morning," he father asked.

"Yep. We ran our usual circuit. I think we might switch it up. We've been doing that one for six weeks now and it's starting to get faster. Tommy wants to add two miles, so I guess we'll have a new route next week. We might start going to the Youth Center and working out before school," she said, getting two breakfast bars out of the cabinet.

She handed her dad his cup of coffee and asked where mom was.

"She got called in for a delivery this morning. She's on call today, so she'll probably be at the hospital until tomorrow. You can always stop by if you need her," he said.

Tommy came stumbling down the stairs, his white shirt slung over his shoulder as he tucked his green shirt into his jeans.

"Would you PLEASE dress in your room. I don't want to lose my breakfast," Meredith said.

Tommy just winked at her. "Rocky called while you were in the shower. He can't pick you up this morning. His mom got paged to go to the hospital for a preemie, so he's waiting for his grandmother to get to the house. You know how his dad had to make that emergency trip to San Diego Saturday morning and now his flight got canceled last night. He was supposed to be home last night, but won't get in until later. He said he'd see you at lunch," he said.

"Oh, OK. I never realized that Rocky's mom was as busy as our mom was and she has younger kids," Meredith said.

Tommy nodded in agreement. Jane Oliver was an OB/GYN. Rocky's mom, Analiese DeSantos, was a neonatologist. When Jane had discovered Meredith was friends with Analiese's son, she was pleased. The women had become great friends in the short time they had been working together. Rocky's mom had been working at Stone Canyon Memorial, but was offered the transfer to Angel Grove General because they wanted her to run their Neonatal nursery. Rocky's dad ran a real estate business that had him running all over California on days when his wife was off from the hospital. He was trying to stay in Angel Grove and this trip to San Diego was one of the few unplanned trips that had arisen since he'd made the change. Meredith understood. She knew what it was like.

Tommy grabbed his backpack and started out the door before Meredith stopped him.

"What," he asked. Meredith pointed at his text book on the table. "Might need that," she said.

Tommy flashed a shy smile at his sister and grabbed the book, then followed his sister out the door. "See ya later, dad," he called.

Meredith hopped in the passenger side of Tommy's Jeep. "Rocky will probably drive me home so you won't have to have me all day," she said.

"It's not a problem, Meri," Tommy said, putting the Jeep in gear and heading toward the school.

***Told you Rita and Zedd wouldn't leave them alone. And before anyone says, I am playing with the timeline of villains because it will work so much better with Zedd and Rita.***-mereditholiver


	20. Chapter 20

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot, Meredith and, yes even Sally is the product of my imagination, but now I've got an excuse!

Meredith met up with Aisha and Adam in front of the school and they walked to their lockers together. Rocky wasn't there, so Meredith guessed he was still stuck at home. Tommy and Kimberly walked toward the trio, hand-in-hand.

"So, how was your date with Rocky," Aisha asked.

"It was nice. I really like Rocky. I think I'm going to have a good time at the dance with him," she said.

Adam and Tommy laughed, remembering how nervous Rocky had been about asking Meredith to go out with him.

The group broke apart and headed for their classes. Meredith entered her speech and drama class alone and it felt weird. Something didn't feel right. She made a note to herself to check with Billy when she saw him and find out if anything strange was happening.

Rocky jogged into school, grateful that his mom had told the school he would be late and it was her fault. Rocky didn't have a history of being late, so they had no problem with him missing his first period class. He was just sorry he missed his morning drive with Meredith. They had had a wonderful weekend together and his family had thought Meredith was just wonderful. He hoped they'd become a serious couple after the dance Saturday because he was really starting to care for her.

He opened his locker and saw the picture of Meredith and the entire group they had taken the day he had joined the Rangers. When he settled his eyes on Meredith something strange happened. All the warm and fuzzy feelings he had for her, disappeared. In their place was this feeling of being second-best; not being what Meredith really wanted. He didn't understand, but he knew he had to break it off with Meredith. He wasn't going to be made a fool of. Jason was going to return to school sometime and he didn't want to get dumped when that happened. The bell for the change of classes rang. Meredith exited her speech and drama class, expecting to meet Rocky. She spotted him at his locker and headed toward him until she saw him walk in the opposite direction. She followed and ran into her brother and Adam.

Rocky shut his locker, intent on finding Meredith, instead he saw Sally. He walked over to her and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Sally, do you have a date for the dance Saturday," he asked.

Sally stared at him. "No, but I thought you were going with Meredith Oliver.""That cold fish. You got me thinking that maybe there was more to Jason leaving than just to be an ambassador. We spent the entire weekend together and it was just, ugh. So, you want to go with me, or not," he asked.

"I would love to," she said.

The two walked toward their second period classes, leaving Meredith in tears. Tommy and Adam both wrapped their arms around her and Adam led her outside to the courtyard.

Tommy started to follow Rocky, but Kimberly grabbed his arm. She and Aisha had seen Rocky walk off with Sally but hadn't seen Meredith break down.

"Don't Tommy. It's not worth it. We'll teleport and see what's going on. I can't believe after the weekend they had that Rocky would just drop Meredith like that for Sally," Kimberly said. They agreed and waited for the halls to clear before the three teleported to the command center. Tommy wanted answers and Zordon and Alpha better have them or he was going to take it out on Rocky.

Adam led Meredith to the courtyard picnic table. He sat down next to her on the bench and held her why she cried. He couldn't believe his best friend from childhood had behaved that way. He was convinced that Rocky really cared for Meredith and was shocked that he had acted like he believed everything that Sally had said about Meredith.

Adam's communicator beeped. "Adam, it's Kimberly. We are at the command center. Tommy wants to know if Meredith's OK."

"She's crying and I don't know what to do," he said.

"Teleport here and we'll see what's going on with Rocky. Billy's on his way," she said.

"Mer, did you hear? We need to teleport to the command center."She nodded and together, they teleported to the command center. Meredith immediately ran to Tommy, who wrapped his twin sister in a hug. He was angry for several reasons and he hoped he'd have a reason behind Rocky's behavior.

"Alpha, is there anything that can explain why Rocky acted like that," Adam asked, hoping that a spell had caused Rocky's attitude switch.

"I can't be sure, Adam. Teenage emotions are tough to figure out. I'll have to tweak the scanners to be certain," Alpha said.

"Please do it, Alpha. I can't believe Rocky would behave this way without some underlying cause," Tommy said.

Meredith watched the viewing globe and saw Rocky kiss Sally. Tommy tried to get Meredith to turn away, but he was too late. Meredith just stared. When Tommy approached her, Meredith shrugged his arm off and said, "DON'T."

She turned to Zordon, "Do you need me because I need to get out of here right now," she said.

Meredith teleported out of the command center and into her room at home. She knew she'd have to explain to her parents why she was home and she'd just tell them she was sick. She called her father at work and told him she hadn't been feeling well and had come home to rest. Her father didn't question her and he called the school to tell them that Meredith had come home because she was ill. Meredith changed into her soccer shorts and an old shirt of Tommy's and curled up on her bed.

She pushed her communicator and wondered if Jason was able to talk.

"Meri, are you OK," he answered right away.

"No. Rocky just broke up with me, I think for Sally. He told her that she was right and I was a cold fish and you left because of that and he didn't need the hassle. He asked her to the dance Saturday night. I guess I was wrong and now I'm totally alone, Jase," she said.

"You are not alone. Look, I'll talk to Zordon and see if I can teleport to Angel Grove for the dance. You shouldn't have to go alone and it would prove that there is nothing wrong with you. I'll break my date with Anna and I'll come to your place. I can come back here afterward. Zack and Trini can cover for me. Zack's my roommate, so I don't have to worry about that," he said."You'd do that for me," Meredith asked.

"Meri, you're a wonderful person and if Rocky doesn't see how much you like him, well that's his loss. I wouldn't have given him my power coin if I knew he was going to treat you this way. I sensed that he cared about you and I knew I wouldn't have to worry if you had him to protect you. I'm sorry, Mer," he said.

"I just feel really stupid, Jase. Maybe I was trying to keep from feeling lost. Maybe I just latched onto his friendship and felt it was something more," she said.

"Meri, that's not true. You really care about him, I know that; Tommy knows that. It will work itself out. I'll be out there Saturday," he said.

"But how will you explain getting here," she said.

"I'll just say that I heard about what happened and came to comfort you. Everyone knows the kind of relationship we had and no one will really question it. Hopefully, you and Rocky will have worked things out that it will be a non-issue," he said.

"Thanks, Jase."

"Anytime, Mer. I'll talk to you later," he said.

Meredith curled back up on the bed and tried to sort out her feelings. She felt glad that she might get to see Jason, but she still wanted to attend the dance as Rocky's date. She couldn't understand why things were the way they were. She hoped Tommy would find a solution.

***Will they discover the truth? Will Meredith ever be a winner in love? I promise this is going to get good. If you love a good catfight, get ready!***-mereditholiver


	21. Chapter 21

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but this plot, Meredith and, (sigh) Sally. Let the games begin.

Tommy and Kimberly entered the Oliver house. Tommy knew Meredith was home and Kimberly wasn't going to go home unless she knew her best friend was going to be OK. Adam and Aisha were going to go an find Rocky and see if he had an explanation for his behavior. They hoped they could fix things because Meredith was hurt and the whole group was shocked.

They ran into Rocky at the Youth Center, preparing to teach his class.

"Rocky, what is wrong with you," Adam asked.

"What are you talking about," Rocky asked.

"You were kissing Sally when you were supposed to be taking Meredith to the dance. Don't you remember asking her out and spending the weekend with her," Aisha asked.

"Look, about that. I realized something. I'm just a replacement. I'm a replacement for Tommy's best friend. I'm a replacement for the red ranger. I'm a replacement with Meredith. I'm just taking up space until Jason comes back and reclaims his power coin. He was the first, so you know he'd get the coin back if he asked for it," Rocky said.

"That's not true, bro. You know that if you weren't the right person to take the powers, Zordon would never have let Jason hand them over. You're not a replacement for Tommy's best friend. You two have developed your own relationship and you and Meredith are a different story. Meredith really likes you. She actually saw you guys going the distance. Now, after the way you've treated her, I don't blame her if she never speaks to you again. You treated her really badly and I wouldn't blame Tommy if he kicked your ass right now," Adam said.

"Everyone knows that if Jason comes back, Meredith would run to him in a heartbeat. I'm just trying to save myself some pain. Besides, Sally is a much better catch than Meredith," he said.

"No, Sally is a bleached blond tramp that gets a thrill out of tormenting decent girls. She picked on Meredith because Jason left for Switzerland and she tried to get her hooks into Tommy. She talks about how Meredith's adopted so that EVERYONE knows and tries to say that she and Tommy aren't really twins. You can't tell us that you think she's better than Meri," Aisha asked.

"She's better because she's not going to compare me to the great Jason Scott. You don't think I've heard it. When I took over this class, everyone involved reminded me just how great Jason was with the kids. How wonderful he was at martial arts. No one even knew how good I was, but they still compared me to him. You know what that's like. I know Meredith will compare me to Jason in everything I do, so I'm saving myself the torment before I fall too far for her," he said.

Adam stared at his best friend. He had no idea the he was talking the exact opposite of what he had said just days ago. Adam knew Rocky had some doubts and insecurities about being a part of the team and taking Jason's spot, but he thought they had gotten past that part. Adam was certain Rocky wanted to be a ranger and wanted to be with Meredith.

"Dude, if you really feel this way, why don't you give Alpha your power coin and stop being a ranger," he said.

"No way. I am going to prove I can be the best red ranger," Rocky said.

"You going to be able to fight next to Meredith and Tommy," Adam asked.

"Tommy won't hurt a fellow ranger and Meredith will realize that I'm right and save us all the heartache. I've got to go. I'm meeting Sally at the park," he said. He grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

"I don't get it Adam. There HAS to be a spell involved in this," Aisha said.

"Let's go talk to Billy. Maybe he knows something," Adam said.

"Summer, you up here," Tommy called as he entered his bedroom and called through the door. Kimberly sat down on his bed. He poked his head through their adjoining door and saw his sister curled up on her bed. She was hugging the stuffed panda that Rocky had won for her at the festival the previous weekend.

"Hey," he called. "You called me Summer so you must have something important to tell me," she said. When ever they had big news for the other they used Michael and Summer. No one but the twins called each other those names.

"We think Rocky's under a spell, but no one's sure what kind. Billy's working on trying to fix it," he said.

"That's good," Meredith said.

"Look, I'm sorry this had to happen. I really thought Rocky was going to be better than this," Tommy said.

"Don't give me any sympathy OK. I've really had enough. Jason was supposed to never leave and he did and I risked a lot and opened my heart to Rocky. Look where it got me. Seriously," she said.

Tommy hated hearing his sister like this. Meredith was the most wonderful girl he knew, next to Kimberly. She was the whole reason he was a ranger, not to mention the leader. Meredith was his best friend and he couldn't stand that it was possible that a spell was causing her to be so unhappy. 'It has to be a spell because if it isn't, Rocky's a dead man,'

Meredith turned and faced the wall. Tommy rubbed her back. Kimberly peered into the room and saw the siblings having a moment. She returned to Tommy's room and tried to concentrate on her homework.

***Poor Meredith. I'm really ready to give myself a stern talking to for doing this to everyone. Oh, teenage angst, Gotta love it,***-mereditholiver.


	22. Chapter 22

DISCLAIMER: Meredith, Sally and the plot are mine. Everything else is the brain child of someone much more creative and richer than I.

By Wednesday there had been only one attack by the putties. The lack of monsters was causing Tommy to think he was right. Zedd and Rita's big plan was to drive a wedge between them with Meredith and Rocky.

Tommy was sitting with everyone, minus Meredith and Rocky discussing the current situation. "I'm certain this has to be a spell. Why else would they not attack? They have to be waiting for us to start fighting because of what happened between the two of them," Tommy said.

"I agree with your hypothesis. I've also uncovered some data that might prove this is a spell. Whenever Rocky is away from the school, his levels start to level out. As a matter of fact, he had a dream about Meredith last night," Billy said.

"How do you know that," Aisha asked.

"Alpha has been monitoring Rocky closely to see if we can find out if this is a spell. He discovered Rocky had a dream about Meredith that revealed his true feelings. It seemed he was all set to apologize to her, but when he got to school, it changed. Something at the school has to be filled with Zedd's magic," Billy said.

"I knew it. Now we just have to find out what it is before Rocky makes a complete ass of himself by getting involved with Sally," Tommy said.

While the rest of the rangers were meeting at their favorite spot in the park, the purple ranger was making her way to the park. Coming from the other direction was the red ranger and his new girlfriend, Sally. They were acting all cute and sharing little kisses. Meredith stopped to talk to a friend and when she turned around, ran RIGHT into Rocky and Sally, literally.

"Oh, sorry," she said, until she realized who she had walked into.

"Well, if it isn't little Miss Perfect. How's your perfect little world now? Jason left and Rocky dumped you for me. Guess I was right about you being all alone. Poor little orphaned Meredith. You're too pathetic for anyone to be around you. Where's that brother of yours? Or those 'friends'? Must suck to be dropped by everyone when they realize what you really are," Sally said.

Meredith couldn't stop herself. She slapped Sally, hard. So hard her hand was stinging, but not hard enough that she wasn't afraid to do it again.

Sally stared at Meredith in shock. Meredith had never been known to be violent, nor would anyone have expected her to act out. Sally rubbed her cheek. "You bitch," Sally screamed. Rocky stepped in front of Sally and faced Meredith. "What the hell are you doing," he asked.

"I'm sticking up for myself. You may not like me at all and may have been playing me for a fool, but I would have thought, after everything, you would have told your girlfriend to leave me alone. No one will talk to me that way, especially some little tramp who thinks its perfectly acceptable to steal another woman's boyfriend. I thought you were different Rocky DeSantos. I thought I could give you the time of day. I thought you would heal my heart. Instead you trampled all over it and made me feel like a fool. Well, not again. I love you but now, I don't believe in love. You want to go with this… this…. WHORE to the dance, go right ahead, just don't expect me to be going alone," she said.

Without waiting for either one to respond she took off up the hill, hoping she'd be able to escape what had just happened. Rocky stood, stock still at the revelation that Meredith had made. She was in love with him or at she had been before something happened. He looked at Sally who had started holding his hand and couldn't figure out why they were together. He loved Meredith, not Sally. He shrugged his hand out of Sally's grasp and told her he had to head home. He left her standing in the middle of the park nursing the sting of his rejection and Meredith's slap.

***CRACK! I so wish I had been able to add sound effects. Meredith slapped Sally. Think it was a good idea? …..Well, I did and it's my story.***-mereditholiver


	23. Chapter 23

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but Meredith, Sally and this plot.

Meredith came down the hill and neared the spot her friends had gathered. Tommy immediately knew something was wrong with his sister.

"What happened," he asked, as he grabbed her by the elbows. "I kind of ran into Rocky and Sally, literally and she started mouthing off and then next thing I knew, I slapped her. Then I told Rocky off and that I was going to go to the dance and I was going to have a date. I don't know what came over me, Tommy. I shouldn't have done that," she said.

Tommy sat his sister on the bench. "You did what you had to do. I'm sure we would all agree if we had been in the same situation," he said.

Meredith stared at the ground. Everyone had gathered around her and had their backs facing the grassy hill behind them. When Meredith looked up, she saw Rocky, standing at the top of the hill, alone.

Seeing her surprise, Tommy turned around and saw Rocky. He started to go to him, but Meredith put her hand on his arm. "Let me talk to him. Sally's not with him, so things should be OK. Rocky's never been a problem on his own," she said. She got up from the bench and walked to Rocky.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, yourself," he said, causing her to smile. "Mer, I have no idea what came over me. I was filled with all these doubts about my abilities and the fact that I was just a replacement until Jason returned. I should have known that you would never play with someone's feelings like that. I couldn't stop feeling like I was second-best in everyone's eyes, including yours," he said. "You're not second-best, Rocky. You're not a replacement. You're Rocky DeSantos, the red ranger. You are an excellent martial artist and you have a great group of friends who always have your back," she said.

"Did you mean what you said," he asked.

"That Sally is a whore? Yes I did and I'm certain everyone else would agree with me," she said.

"Not that. Although I do believe you about her. No, I mean when you said you loved me," he said.

Meredith took a deep breath. "Despite my better judgment, yes, Rocky, I love you," she said.

"You love me," he said, again and Meredith nodded."Meredith Oliver, I'm so in love with you, I can't sleep," he said. Meredith laughed. "I'm sure Sally wouldn't agree with you on that one," she said.

"I can't explain that Sally thing. When you said you loved me back there, this warmth came over me and all these thoughts and doubts I had just disappeared. My 'feelings' for Sally also faded away like they were never there. I guess Rita and Zedd cast a spell on me some how. Maybe I should go to the command center and see," he said.

"Sounds good to me," she said. Their friends watched as they teleported away in red and purple streaks.

"Think we should follow them," Aisha asked.

"They should have this time alone. Meredith will call me if she needs anything, but I think that spell was broken, whatever it was," Tommy said.

***What's going on at the Command Center?***-mereditholiver


	24. Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER: I own the plot and the characters of Meredith and Sally. I will, however, give Sally to whoever wants her.

ON THE MOON

"Brilliant plan, Zeddy. True love is the one thing you can't mess with and you had to try it on the two power pukes who have it. The only thing worse would have been if you'd tried it on Tommy and Kimberly. I'm surprised this didn't blow up in our face a lot sooner," Rita said.

"Oh, be quiet," Zedd said, fuming that his latest plan had failed.

"Alpha can you scan Rocky and see if he's back to normal," Meredith asked.

Alpha scanned Rocky and entered some numbers into the computer. "Rocky's fine. His biowaves are in a normal pattern, although they do seem to be peaking higher than before," Alpha said.

"THAT'S BECAUSE ROCKY IS IN LOVE WITH MEREDITH. THE BIOWAVES WILL PEAK AROUND THEIR TRUE LOVE. WE MUST FIGURE OUT HOW ZEDD AND RITA WERE ABLE TO CAST A SPELL ON YOU THAT CAUSED YOU TO BEHAVE THAT WAY," Zordon said.

"It has to be at the school. Billy said Rocky was almost back to normal after being away from the school, but when he went to school, something happened that caused him to change," Meredith said.

"ALPHA, SCAN THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR ANYTHING UNUSUAL."

"I'm picking up some weird readings at Rocky's locker. It seems to be coming from a photograph of the rangers," Alpha said.

"RITA AND ZEDD MUST HAVE CAST A SPELL ON THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT CAUSED YOU TO DESPISE MEREDITH WHENEVER YOU GAZED UPON THE PICTURE. ALPHA, PLEASE RID THE PICTURE OF EVIL."

"Right away, Zordon," Alpha said as he set back to work.

"NOW MY YOUNG ONES, PLEASE RETURN TO THE OTHER RANGERS AND TELL THEM YOU TWO ARE JUST FINE. ENJOY YOUR DANCE AND HOPEFULLY THIS LITTLE SETBACK WILL KEEP RITA AND ZEDD DOWN FOR A WHILE.""Thanks, Zordon, Alpha," Rocky said before he and Meredith teleported back to the park.

They reappeared in front of their friends at the park. They all jumped up at their appearance. "Everything back to normal," Adam asked.

"Yeah. Alpha found the picture in Rocky's locker was causing all the problems. He's rid it of evil and Rocky seems to have recovered. Apparently honest true love is the cure to the spell. I guess Rita and Zedd didn't know that we had true love," Meredith said.

"We didn't know it either, babe," he said. Meredith smiled at him and pulled him closer for a kiss. A kiss that lasted a good while and had Tommy clearing his throat.

"I guess he wants us to stop," Meredith said laughing against Rocky's lips.

"Guess so. Otherwise he might go all 'leader' on us," Rocky said. The couple broke apart with Rocky wrapping his arms around Meredith's waist.

"I'm glad that's over, but you do anything like that again, Rocky, and I will seriously kick your ass," Tommy said. "And I'll help," Billy said, causing everyone to laugh.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything stupid with Meredith. I love her," he said.

The gang broke apart and head in their separate ways, Meredith and Rocky holding hands to their destination.

***Will there be more? Well, I can't end the story like this. They haven't had the dance and there's still the whole letter fiasco with Tommy and Kimberly. I think this one is shaping up to be a lot longer than I thought.*** -mereditholiver


	25. Chapter 25

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but the plot and the character of Meredith Oliver. Enjoy!

The day of the dance arrived. Rocky had successfully avoided Sally during the past few days. Rocky had a feeling she was scared Meredith would go all, as Tommy put it, 'Ranger on her ass.' He couldn't believe how he had behaved. He was also distressed to hear the Jason was going to return to Angel Grove to take Meredith to the dance. He was upset that he had behaved the way he had and was relieved that it had been a spell. He still felt he had to make it up to Meredith for the way he had treated her, but he wasn't sure how to do it. So, he planned to love her forever. Maybe THAT would make up for the way he had behaved.

Rocky grabbed his garment bag and headed to his room. His mom had picked up his tux and then announced that she had arranged for his grandmother to take the five youngest DeSantos children to her house so Rocky's parents could take pictures of Rocky before the dance. Tommy and Adam had decided to get ready at Rocky's house and let the girls have the Oliver residence. Rocky's mom had set out drinks and snacks for the guys, knowing young men the way she did.

Tommy arrived first, his tux bag hung over his shoulder. "You are going to wrinkle that thing, Tommy," Rocky's mom said. "Sorry, Dr. D," he said. Analiese smiled at him. She'd asked him to call her Ana or something but he usually said Dr. D or mom like Rocky. It warmed her heart that her son had found such wonderful friends.

Adam arrived, holding his bag up. "See Adam knows what to do," she said, laughing at the boys. They all went to Rocky's room, which was mainly the basement. Rocky had one younger brother, but they 12 years apart, so Rocky's parents let him have his own space.

After spending a few hours goofing off and playing video games, the guys decided the should be getting ready.

"What do you think the girls are doing," Rocky asked his friends.

"Knowing Kimberly, she's probably got hairspray all over the bathroom mirror and is insisting on doing Meri's hair. Those two are such good friends, but sometimes I don't know how they can be without killing each other," Tommy said. He smoothed out the lapels on his jacket. He was wearing a traditional tux with his colored accents being a white vest and bow tie. He knew he would have a pink flower on his lapel when he met up with Kimberly. It was a different looking tux that Meredith had helped him pick out. He thought it looked good, for a tux.

Adam was in a black vest, jacket, pants and tie. He looked pretty sharp sporting the tux. He'd probably get a yellow rose from Aisha for his lapel.

Rocky had a black jacket and pants, but he had red for a tie. His tux was different than the others. He had a red vest with a long tie in red. Tommy thought the look was really cool and he couldn't wait to see Rocky with the purple rose on his lapel.

The guys eyed the clock and went upstairs to get their pictures taken. They had rented a limo for the evening to pick up the girls and soon they were seated in the back on the way to the Oliver's to get their dates for the evening.

***Dance night. There is one more chapter before this one is finished. Then I'll work on the next installment in the Heartbroken series. Gotta love it!***-mereditholiver


	26. Chapter 26

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but Meredith and the plot. Enjoy!

Meredith twisted the little rhinestone flowers in her hair. Kimberly had helped her curl her hair in large curls and then pull it on top of her head. She twisted the little decorations around the top of her head to add some sparkle to her hair. She had a rhinestone headband as well, that wrapped around the top of her hair to hide the pony tail holder securing her hair to the top of her head. She had applied her makeup and was ready to slip into her dress.

Aisha emerged from the bathroom first. She was in a pastel yellow baby doll style dress. It was a halter top that had rhinestones added to the bodice. The skirt flared and stopped just above her knee. She wore simple yellow heels that matched the color of her dress. Her hair was in a simple pony tail with a touch of curl added to it. She had little yellow flowers in the crown of her hair, matching the effect Meredith did.

Kimberly had her hair in a French twist with the escaping strands curled. She had put little pink rhinestones in her hair to match the girls. Her pink dress was a shade darker than her normal color and had simple straps that revealed a low cut back. It reached the floor and clung to her in the right places without being too revealing for a high school dance. She had simple black strapped sandals with small heels on them. When the three girls were dressed, they went downstairs to where the Oliver's were waiting to take their picture. Rocky's mom had called and said the guys had just left so they'd be at the Oliver house shortly.

The girls posed for pictures and got the flowers for their guys out of the fridge.

Suddenly, Meredith's communicator beeped. Hoping her parents hadn't heard, she soon realized it was just hers. She excused herself and headed back up to her room.

"Yes," she said.

"Are you alone," Jason asked.

"I'm in my room," she said.

Suddenly Jason teleported into her bedroom. "I know I didn't have to come, but I wanted to make sure everything was OK. Wow, you look amazing," he said as Meredith spun around in her dress.

"Thanks for everything, Jase. I'm fine. I would love to talk, but the guys are on their way," she said.

"No, problem. I'm just glad you're doing well, Merideri," he said. They hugged and Meredith left the room and rejoined the group. Kimberly looked at her and Meredith whispered, "Jason came to see how things were. He wanted to make sure that nothing happened to me," she said as Kimberly nodded.

The doorbell rang, announcing the arrival of the guys.

James Oliver opened the door to the beaming faces of his son and his two best friends.

The girls were standing at the top of the stairs and waited for the guys to enter the foyer. They came down one by one and watched as each guy was amazed at how they looked.

The girls pinned the flowers on the lapels on the men and the guys put their flowers on their wrists. Adam felt silly buying black roses, so he got Aisha a wild tropical orchid that was a dark blue. Meredith had red roses and Kimberly's were white. The group posed for still more pictures before finally being freed from their parents. Soon they were all seated in the limo headed toward the school.

Meredith and Rocky sat next to each other, holding hands. Meredith told Rocky about Jason quick visit and Rocky asked Meredith how she felt about that.

"I'm good. I want him to be happy because I am," she said, smiling at Rocky.

The group exited the limo when it reached the Youth Center; Ernie's small contribution to the high school. He allowed the use of his facility for school functions.

The Youth Center didn't look like the Youth Center. They had decorated it to look like a tropical island, each person getting a flower lei when they entered. Ernie had opened the back of the Juice Bar to give freer access to the soon to be opened beach club. The students could dance inside or outside. It was a great setup.

Meredith and Rocky spent the evening laughing and dancing. Rocky commented several times about how beautiful she was and she believed him. She thought he looked really good in his tux and told him. This caused him to blush.

Soon, it came time to announce the king and queen. Meredith and Rocky held hands as the announcement was made. Principal Kaplan gave the announcement, "Tonight's Spring Fling King and Queen are…Tommy Oliver and Kimberly Hart." Cheers and applause sounded from the students.

"I knew they would win," Meredith said."You didn't want to win," Rocky asked,

"No because I don't want people to think of Jason when they see me. I want them to see us," she said.

"I'm certain they will. And do you know why," he asked, smiling at her.

"Why," she said.

"Because I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," she said. They shared a kiss as Tommy and Kimberly danced in the center of the floor.

***This concludes this story. I'm going to work on another one that will have the effects of Jason's return as the Gold Ranger on Meredith and Rocky's relationship. Hope everyone liked it!***-mereditholiver


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